


La nuit, tous les chats sont gris

by Obsessed_Frenchie



Series: La nuit, tous les chats sont gris. [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Bi Stiles, Bisexuality, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Cats, F/M, Family Issues, Family Secrets, Fluff, I have no idea what I'm doing, M/M, Magic, Mutual Pining, Pack Dynamics, Pack Group Chat, Post-Canon, Scottish Folklore & Mythology, Slow Burn, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Stiles is dumb, Witchcraft, Work In Progress, maybe smut later idk, some gay shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:35:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23172544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obsessed_Frenchie/pseuds/Obsessed_Frenchie
Summary: After a few uneventful months on the supernatural side, Scott gets a slightly panicky text in the pack group chat from a slightly panicked Liam who had a bad feeling about two new substitute teachers in BHHS. Thankfully, he is meant to leave UC Davis in just a couple of days to complete his end of the year internship at Deaton’s vet clinic, so whatever those two enigmatic beings want from them, he’ll be there to deal with it. Also, he won’t be alone: Spring Break is about to start, and the whole pack has planned to go back home to spend two weeks all together again, just like good (well…) ol’ (dangerous and scary) times. What could go wrong? (Spoilers: a lot)Or how Stiles will have no other choice but to face his slowly revealing bisexuality by encountering the two most bewitching (quite literally) people he ever met.
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Stiles Stilinski/Original Male Character(s)
Series: La nuit, tous les chats sont gris. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764907
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	1. Spring Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody! This is my first ever fanfiction in English (I'm French) and it's the first time I post here, so please be nice? I have 2 other chapters written and waiting to be reviewed by friends, so Bookmark my fiction if you like it, please, you won't be disappointed (I hope) 
> 
> By the way, the title means "at night, all cats are grey" in french, it's common phrase that basically means "everything looks the same in the dark".
> 
> ALSO: it came to my attention when I was rewatching the show recently that although Scott & cie are supposed to be 2 years older than the Puppy Pack, Liam (& friends) begin senior year right when the McCall Pack leaves for college, which would mean that they are actually only 1 year apart. As always, the show makes no sense, but I've personally chosen for them to be 2 years apart because I prefer that.   
> This makes Scott & friends 2Oyo and Liam & friends 18yo, so we're clear. 
> 
> Enjoy!

**1\. Spring Break -** _POV Scott_

Scott was enjoying the cool Californian air while as he left his last class of the semester at UC Davis when his phone buzzed in his pocket. It was a text from Liam on the pack group chat – PGC for short, or at least Stiles called it this way. A slightly panicky text, from a slightly panicky Liam, it seemed: after months of tranquillity on the supernatural side, he had been sending a few worried messages for the past few days. He was concerned about two new weird substitute teachers at Beacon Hills High School, and apparently the Beta had new reasons to think their presence was bad omen.

(Screenshots are on my Tumblr, link at the end!)

**Pack Group Chat (text)**

_Beta (Liam):_ hey guys, not that I’m worried or anything but the new teachers thing is getting weirder

_Scott_ : Hey, what’s wrong?

_Mason_ : Don’t lie bro, you were on the verge of panic when you left school earlier

_Beta_ : alright whatever

here’s the thing: we crossed each other in the hallway and they were full on STARING at me, like in the eyes

i don’t know what it is but they’re definitely supernatural

_Mason_ : He forgot to mention they are both unnaturally gorgeous

_Beta_ : also they smell weird

_Scott_ : Oook, we all know your sense of smell is not the best tho lmao

But your right, they could be bad news. We’ll investigate further tomorrow when I’ll arrive in town, stay safe guys

_My Bro (Stiles):_ OMG I can’t wait WAIT to go home, I miss yall so much!!!

_Beta_ : we will, see you tomorrow!

_Scott_ : I can’t “wait wait” either bro lmao

Good night pack!

Scott knew it was his role as an Alpha to reassure his young Beta, but he was honestly way too excited about Spring Break to be worried about anything. He hadn’t had two full weeks of holidays – real ones, without four papers due the Monday after and five exams to study for – in months, and he was going to spend them with his best friends and his family. Not to mention he would be living at home again for the next five months, to work as an intern in Deaton’s clinic and complete his second year as a vet student. This meant seeing Malia as much as he wanted, be close to his Beta again, and having his mom on his side every day. Of course he had friends here at school, but as a True Alpha werewolf (and a mama’s boy), nothing compared to being on his own territory with part of his pack. All in all, life at the moment was just too good to panic over two beautiful but weird substitute teachers back in his old high school.

As he was approaching his dorm, he got a text from Malia telling him she loved him and couldn’t wait for tomorrow, and he entered his small apartment with a big lopsided smile on his face.

***

The next day, Scott was so eager to go back home that he woke up way earlier than planned and was on the road with Stiles’ jeep before noon. He arrived just on time for a late lunch at the dinner where he knew Malia was finishing her last shift before her 6 days holidays (all she could negociate with her demanding manager). Scott was a bit bummed out thinking he would have to refrain from hugging and kissing his girlfriend on her workplace, but as soon as he stepped inside the small dinner, a very enthusiastic Malia stormed in dressed in a cute 50s style apron (at what point Scott was honestly considering asking for her to bring it in the bedroom).

“Hey babe”, he said to the beaming were-coyote after kissing her, “I’ve missed you”.

Her boss called from behind the counter: “Hey, your shift ends in 23 minutes, get back to work!”, to which Malia answered with a dramatic eye roll that made Scott chuckle, before leading him to an empty booth. “Be right back babe,” she said while rushing back to the kitchen. She knew what he liked, he thought, with a dreamy look on his face.

Twenty-three minutes later, not one more, Malia was sitting in the booth with him, eating lunch. She had even thought about packing food to bring to Melissa at the hospital later. They were casually chatting when Scott’s phone buzzed on the table, it was the Pack Group Chat. Liam was almost done with school and was calling for a meeting at Deaton’s at 4; the couple agreed, as well as Stiles and Lydia who were on their way from the airport.

“This reminds me!”, Malia exclaimed, “The new HQ is almost done, it looks great, we should go check it out later. Also I can tell Derek is happy about it, he’s been way less gloomy. You’ll see.” Scott was glad to hear this, Derek deserved to be happy after all he went through. The year prior, he had announced his decision to build a new pack HQ (officially a Preserve control base) where his childhood house used to stand. Although surprised, the pack was delighted – Stiles had insisted it should be called The Den, and Derek _agreed_.

“Sure, I can’t wait to see what it looks like. But seriously though, have you noticed anything strange with the Preserve or the Nemeton these last few days?”. He knew she was supposed to check, they agreed on it on the group chat when Liam started to worry about the new residents in town. She answered:

“Oh yeah, I’ve been going on morning and evening runs almost every day for several weeks anyways, I would know if anything had changed, and everything feels and looks perfectly normal.”

Scott nodded, reassured. Deaton had warned them about energy flows shifting and changing, it could be the sign of major danger coming, so he was glad to hear Malia’s report. After all, she had lived in the woods longer than anybody else, she knew what she was talking about.

“I did try to go check the new sub teachers at school though”, she added after a second. “But Coach busted me, he said he was happy to see me again and hoped I was doing okay in College but the school rules had gotten stricter since ‘past incidents’ – his words, not mine – and as I was not a student there anymore, I wasn’t allowed inside. I didn’t want to stress him out, so I didn’t insist, sorry”.

“It’s okay,” Scott chuckled, “Now that we’re all gonna be in town for a while, we’ll find a way to meet those guys. If they don’t come to us first.”

Once they were done eating, they took their respective cars (Malia having finally passed her driver’s licence last summer) to go to the hospital. There, they met in the lobby with an ecstatic Melissa who gave a bone crushing hug to her son before thanking the couple for the food, insisting on inviting them for dinner this evening and going back to work. After that, they drove to Scott’s home to unpack his stuff, and spent the next hour cuddling in bed and catching up the time they spent apart.

***

Two minutes before 4PM, Scott was stopping the jeep on the small parking lot in front of Deaton’s clinic. Stiles had sent a text earlier saying him and Lydia would be around 10 minutes late, but Mason’s blue car was already parked. Scott knew the boys had arrived before them because Liam sent him a text, but really, as his Alpha, Scott could _sense_ him from 3 blocks down the street. His inner wolf was jumping with excitement of seeing his young Beta again after weeks in a different city. As soon as he stepped out of his vehicle, he was brought into yet another loving accolade from the small blonde.

“Hey lil’ bro, how you doing?”, he asked happily, breaking them apart, saying hello to Mason next. Malia also gave a quick hug to Liam and Mason.

“Better now that you’re here,” Scott heart swelled with brotherly love at his words. “Also, Spring Break! Malia told me The Den is almost ready, I can’t wait to have a Pack Party there”, he said excitedly. “But also, the weird new teachers.”, he said, his mood suddenly switching to deep worry.

Scott was really hoping they were nothing to fear of, he knew what it was like to see your weekends/holidays/any days - really – plans being thrown away by a supernatural emergency. Liam was almost done with high school now, and he wanted to leave Beacon Hills to go study in UCLA with Mason and Corey next September. After being the town’s “substitute” Alpha for 2 years, he deserved to escape the danger prawn supernatural beacon to start his own university life, too.

“I’m sure it’s all gonna be fine, buddy. We’ll all be here if anything happens anyways”, he said to his Beta in his big brother voice. Liam nodded and gave him a small smile.

“Hey Mason, is Corey coming?”, he asked next, having guessed the answer already.

“Nah, too much homework he said, but you know, it’s Spring Break so…”, Mason trailed off sadly. He did know: Corey had slowly withdrawn himself from supernatural related stuff over the past two years, wishing to live a life as normal as he could as a chimera. Nobody could blame him, really, but everybody in the pack knew it was a recurring fight topic between Mason and him.

After a few more minutes of enthusiastic small talk on the parking lot, all three were-creatures turned their attention to the street where they could hear the distinctive (at least to them) sound of Lydia’s car coming in their direction. Although Mason could hear nothing but a mix of different cars and many more outside noises, he knew what was coming. A minute or two later, Lydia parked her car next to the jeep and a bullet fast Stiles leaped out of it to run full speed to Scott, who already had his arms spread out for him. They crashed together, laughing and patting each other in the back, overjoyed to see each other again after close to 5 months of excruciating separation.

“OhmygodI’msoHAPPYtoseeyoubrooo!!!”, Stiles screamed, visibly over the moon with joy to see his childhood friend, “Sorry we’re late by the way, I made Lyds take the wrong exit coming out of the airport parking lot, you know how it is down there in the City, the traffic is INSANE, so by the time we realised we were going the wrong direction, we were already getting late and I think she broke up with me again at least 3 times on the way here…,” he babbled away while making crazy hand gestures, almost hitting Lydia, and then Liam in the face. Although they had broken up at some point during summer, the FBI trainee and the MIT student managed to remain the genius power couple they had been for a year – and would probably always be, Scott believed.

After saying hello and exchanging friendly hugs with everybody, the group resumed its excited chatter, sharing updates about their lives and planning future get togethers to celebrate Spring Break. While Stiles was still going on about their “awful flight” down to California, Scott overheard Lydia inform Liam she had hacked through the BHHS teacher register on their way here and she couldn’t find any trace of new substitutes; the Alpha decided it was his cue to get back to the important issue at stake.

“Okay everybody, we came here for a reason. Liam, can you tell us more about these guys? Why are you so worried?”

“Okay, I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense when I’m texting you stuff but trust me, ok? I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”, he said, getting serious all of a sudden.

“First, they appeared at school last Monday and it looked like nobody knew who they were, we just heard from some junior that the girl (“there’s a _girl_?!” Stiles gasped in the back) was her sub English teacher while Mr. Barnes was on leave, except I saw Mr. Barnes last Friday and he was completely fine. Real weird, right?” The group looked highly unimpressed, but he continued anyways:

“Then I saw the guy (“a girl _and_ a guy, ok, noted,” Stiles commented, again) was teaching computer science to some sophomores on fifth period, but I know this is normally Mrs. Welsh class, and she’s my maths teacher, whom, once again, I saw the previous Thursday, also alive and well. Not that I think she’s dead now,” he chuckled nervously. “At this point Mason agreed something fishy was going on, right dude?”, Mason nodded frantically, and Liam went on with his explanations.

“Then something even weirder happened, still on Monday _only_. I was at Lacrosse practice after class, and while I was on the field, I felt like _someone_ or _something_ was staring at me, so I looked around… and there they were, sitting on the bleachers. They looked away as soon as I spotted them, but Mason and Corey were sitting close by, and they noticed something even weirder: they look way too young to be any kind of teachers, like _you guys_ young, maybe a bit older, but not that much. Super weird.” Again, Mason was nodding his head off while giving very dramatic eye looks to the group. He looked like he was having fun. Scott was getting on board and he could tell the others were intrigued, too.

“I let it slide, because you know, no immediate danger, I didn’t want to make a scene for nothing.”

“You still sent a few dozen text about them in the group chat that same evening, though,” Lydia pointed out with her usual smarts.

“Sure, but I was right to do so! Because although I didn’t see them like, at all, on Tuesday, Wednesday was different.” He marked a pause, for dramatic effect, Scott thought amusingly. “We saw each other in the hallways as I was going to the cafeteria for lunch, and I swear, they made sure to walk right past me and full on _stared_ the whole goddamn time. And mind you, they are some view to behold, especially walking perfectly in sync together like models or I don’t know, androids. I know Mason already mentioned they were good looking people (“straight up gor-geous.”, his friend emphasized next to him), but it’s not just that: they have something… fascinating about them, almost… bewitching. Like, by now, the whole school is talking about how charming and mysterious they look. Except there’s something _unnatural_ about it, I swear. If Corey was here he would agree, his senses told him the same they did me.” Everybody looked at Mason for confirmation, which he did give with another pointed nod. He even added:

“Also, they always move around together if they’re not in class, it’s like they’re glued by their hips. Except nobody could tell if they were together, just friends, or even related in some way. Well, that is until somebody realized they had the same last name: Williams.” To which Liam quickly exclaimed:

“If that’s even their real name! I bet it isn’t. Nobody knows though, simply because nobody knows them at all, it’s like the materialized out of thin air in Beacon Hills on Monday morning, somehow.”

This piqued Lydia’s curiosity, so she inquired: “Has anybody tried to check the town’s residents record? Or ask the Sheriff about it? Maybe they did move in town recently.”

Liam looked like she had just called him a dumb dumb, but answered anyways: “No, we haven’t. But this is not a huge town, people know each other! And I’ve got a gut feeling, ok? It’s because of their smell (“oh no, not the smell thing again”, Stiles whined). As you know, we crossed paths again a few times this week, and _their smell_ , it’s familiar, yet I can’t place it. But more importantly, it’s _tainted_. Like, you know how it feels around the Nemeton?” Stiles and Mason knew they couldn’t possibly know and this wasn’t aimed at them, yet they still answered “No” together, receiving a very exasperated look from Lydia. Scott and Malia confirmed they knew what he meant.

“Well they feel like _that_. That’s why I called for a meeting at Deaton’s. He’s our best shot at figuring out _what_ they are and what they want from us,” the teenage boy concluded, slightly out of breath from all the explaining. Scott put his arm around his Beta’s shoulders and grinned proudly:

“Ok, I think we’re all convinced now. Let’s go in, he’s been waiting for us.”

With that, the whole group moved toward the clinic’s door. As soon as Liam opened it and set a foot inside, he exclaimed loudly:

“That’s it! The smell! Oh my god, how could I not figure it out? It’s _cats_!”, at which point it looked like his friends, who were very on board a minute before, lost all belief they had in him. Instead, they stared at him like he was a madman. Not Scott though, he had learned to trust his Beta, even if he was young and impulsive and frankly not great with his sense of smell. Maybe the two new sub teachers did smell like cats.

Obviously, Deaton couldn’t not have noticed the group entering his clinic, and he greeted them all before letting them into the examination room, where so many supernatural themed meetings, crisis and dramas had taken place before since Scott was bitten.

“So, what can I do for you today?”, the druid asked. This ensued a somehow short but detailed summary of everything Liam had explained just moments ago, provided by an efficient Lydia and a mocking but still accurate Stiles. Unsurprisingly, Deaton’s reaction was nothing clear cut or direct, as he just smiled enigmatically and reached behind him to a cabinet, of which he pulled out a big old leather bound – cliché, really – occult looking book. But you couldn’t fool an intellectually hyperactive FBI agent-to-be, as Stiles proved by declaring accusingly:

“Oh no, not that again old man. You know more than you make it look like. Tell us everything!”

“I’m not sure of what I know, young man.”, Deaton answered calmly, opening the volume and starting to browse it slowly. Of course, Stiles being Stiles, and Mason being his proud successor in the role of “supernatural expert human and werewolf side-kick”, they quickly both gathered around the doctor to read the pages with him, falling in a deep knowledge-absorbing silence.

It took a few minutes and a few more intrigued “Mmh”’s coming from the vet, before he finally looked as if he found the page he was looking for. Right at this moment, the three were-canines in the room heard the door leading to the clinic’s backroom open quietly, as a mix of animal scents filled the air. Amidst them, Liam immediately picked one out: the new teachers, they were here! Before he could say anything though, there was a sound on the cabinet behind where the group was standing. When they turned their heads to look, and Mason and Stiles looked up from the large book, they were all presented with the strangest picture: here, sitting on the medical cabinet, were two… cats.

There was a confused silence. Scott, baffled but not sensing any immediate danger, observed them with great attention. One was an orange tabby, round and fluffy, probably a bit too fat to a vet’s liking. It had round green eyes, a white belly, as well as a white sock on its left front paw. The other one was a bit taller and had a bigger frame, it looked thin and athletic. It was a grey tabby with yellow eyes, and a small white sock too, but on the right front paw. Both were gazing at them smugly, waving the tip of their tails lazily.

Too stunned to react, nobody seemed to know what to do or to say, and after less than a minute, the creatures were standing up and leaping from the cabinet towards the examination table in front of them in perfect synchronization. However, the whole assembly gasped loudly when the two felines rapidly transformed mid-air before landing gracefully as two humans – a young woman, and a young man, sitting on the metal table, completely naked.

In the end, they did come to us, Scott thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the link to the Pack Group Chat screenshots: https://absolutely-obsessed.tumblr.com/post/612762130831343616/screenshots-of-the-pack-group-chat-from-chapter-1
> 
> Hope you liked this first chapter. Leave Kudos or a comment if you did (or did not, as long as you're respectful), it would mean the world to me! 
> 
> See you soon!


	2. Cat What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This chapter was only reviewed by one of my beta reader so it might contain more spelling msitakes than the 1st, sorry about that. 
> 
> I hope you like it anyways!
> 
> Small disclaimer: It came to my attention when I was rewatching the show recently that although Scott & cie are supposed to be 2 years older than the Puppy Pack, Liam (& friends) begin senior year right when the McCall Pack leaves for college, which would mean that they are actually only 1 year apart. As always, the show makes no sense, but I've personally chosen for them to be 2 years apart because I prefer that.  
> This makes Scott & friends 2Oyo and Liam & friends 18yo, so we're clear.

**2\. Cat what? -** _POV Stiles_

Malia, as her usual blunt self, was the first of the group to break the heavy silence. She, for one, looked perfectly unphased by the nakedness of the intruders, which was quite predictable given her peculiar childhood and her own lack of basic decency. She was, however, very pissed by their surprise entrance.

“Okay first: what the fuck? And also, who are you?”, she asked in a tense tone.

Stiles noticed Scott putting his hand on the small of her back as a calming gesture. The Alpha didn’t look like he was sensing any danger from the strange duo. Despite the situation not being life threatening in any ways, Stiles wasn’t able to relax. In fact, he was getting more tense by the second, one would even say flustered: he could feel his face getting hot and red, and although he tried very hard not to _look,_ he couldn’t help but to peek just for a second.

The young woman was the most noticeable of the two: her warm-toned, slightly tanned skin radiated joy and summer sunshine. Long brown loose curls were cascading down her back, and she had a round, soft face, but her expression showed only confidence and smugness – very much like her cat self. Her malicious bright hazel eyes were saying she was very proud of their little joke. But what left Stiles most dumbstruck and embarrassingly red was her curvy ( _don’t say thick_ ) figure: she was sitting completely relaxed, almost lascivious, as everybody in the room could see her generous breasts as plainly as the deep brown hairs sitting between her large thighs and under her round stomach. Stiles noticed she was wearing no jewelry except for an anklet: a long silver chain was twisted around her ankle, ornated with a deep green gem pendant. She really was bewitchingly gorgeous, Stiles couldn’t help thinking. Maybe a little too gorgeous to be real. How could one person look so vulnerable yet so powerful? The word _unnatural_ came back to his mind.

Although more discreet, the man by her side had nothing to be jealous of. He looked very different from her, but you could tell they were definitely closely related because of how similar their face structure was. Stiles also noticed something interesting between the man’s collarbones: he was wearing the same silver chain and green gem as the woman, but around his neck. Siblings, the FBI trainee guessed. And boy, what a pair they made. Stiles hated to admit it because he was still a little bit in denial over his slowly revealing (it had been _years_ ) bisexuality, but the tall, thin, pale skinned man was really doing it for him. It didn’t help that he had beautifully thick curly red hair, of which some strand was falling past his right eyebrow onto one of his deep blue/grey eyes. (Also, not that he checked on purpose, but the guy was ginger _everywhere_ ). He had tiny freckles dotting his whole body, and said body was adorned of subtly defined muscles. It seemed he was one of these people who looked naturally and effortlessly athletic. At this point, Stiles couldn’t tell if he was more turned on or jealous. Either way, just like his (probably) sister next to him, he looked perfectly comfortable sitting completely naked in front of seven total strangers on a cold metal table.

Apparently, Stiles’ mental ordeal over the duo’s _physique_ was immediately noticed by Scott, as he received a very telling side look from his werewolf of a best friend, who could tell he was getting a little too “excited” over the situation by reading his chemo signals. Freaking superhero senses, he cursed in his head.

Unfortunately, it seemed their new acquaintances could tell, too, and thought it was really funny to mess with the human a little, because they were both looking at him very seductively and _fuck fuck fuck this is bad, this is real bad, somebody help,_ Stiles was going on loop in his mind.

As if he had heard his prayers, Deaton was the one saving his endangered dignity. The veterinarian left the room without a word and came back a few seconds later with Stiles’ holy grail in the form of two white medical robes, which he handed to the shameless offenders. Thankfully, they put them on right away without a comment (but still looking very attractive doing so, _damn it_ ).

Before Malia - who was visibly seeping with irritation in a corner of the room - could jump at the throat of the two rude creatures, the ( _dressed_ ) young woman finally spoke:

“Sorry we came in unannounced. I’m Lexie, and he’s my twin brother ( _Knew it!)_ Lachlann,” she said in a calm and friendly tone.

Meanwhile, Stiles’ “genius” brain suddenly started functioning properly again and he remembered Deaton’s weird old book, which had been left wide open at a very specific page, right in front of him. Naturally, he started reading it. There was an old illustration of a black cat on one side of the volume, and on the other one, two bold words written in elegant cursives: Cat Sìth. 

“Cat… Sith?”, he tried to pronounce out loud, although it didn’t sound right. And it was not, seeing as Lexie started full on laughing like he had told her some hilarious joke, and Lachlann chuckled with a hand on his mouth. As he thought, the siblings were _not_ cats who had joined the dark side of the Force.

“It’s pronounced Cat See, Catsy for short”, they both corrected at the same time, once again in perfect sync.

“Freaky”, Mason whispered, receiving a cheeky wink from the brunette.

“Is that what you are?”, Scott inquired. Before they could answer, he added quickly: “And Deaton, do you know them? Or about… “Cat thing”s?”

Deaton looked like he expected the twins to answer but they didn’t, and Stiles was honestly tired of all the mystery. He went back to the book and started reading out loud:

“’The Cat Sìth appears in Celtic mythology and is described as a fairy creature that takes the appearance of a large black cat with a white spot on its chest. It is said to be prowling the Scottish Highlands and it is better not to cross its path, as it is highly dangerous.’ Well that’s reassuring, thank god we’re not in the Scottish Highlands, right?”, Stiles commented with humor, even if he knew it was really a good time for that. Lydia rolled her eyes, but he could see the others smiling a bit. _Point for Stiles._ He resumed:

“‘However, many contemporary sources suggest the Cat Sìth is not a fairy but a witch’, well that’s interesting, ‘that can transform into a cat nine times. According to Demonology expert Father St. Andrew, who was officiating in the region in the mid-16th century, the Cat Sìth is not a single creature like the legend suggests, as he met once with a number of locals claiming to be part of a coven of Cat Sìths. Unfortunately, his reports lack details, and he died a few months after the encounter. A monk, who was by his side at the time, claimed in a letter to the Vatican that Father St Andrew had been cursed by demon worshippers, or as some would call them: witches.’”

The room was silent again.

“Well, this took a dark turn!” Stiles exclaimed, again trying to alleviate the somber mood of the room.

“Bullshit.”, Lachlann called in a deep voice. It was the first time he was saying anything since they got here. “The reason why this Priest came to our ancestors was because he had heard there was a very powerful healer in that coven. One who could cure the illness he had been suffering from for years, and was slowly dying of. Malaveen tried, but she couldn’t do anything for him, he likely had cancer or something. That’s why he died a few months later, not because of a _curse_. The old man was just bitter because no magic or powerful God could avoid him a painful death. And because of his dumb report, everybody started to fear our ancestors _again_ – although they’d been very helpful to the community for centuries – and they had to hide and live secluded ever since.”, he concluded.

“Right, this makes more sense,” Deaton commented. “There were very few reliable reports of Catsies sighting after this event, to the point where most think they went extinct, or even never existed. That’s fascinating.”

“So, you’re not like, werecats or something, you’re… Witches.”, Mason said.

“Yup. Also, we can actually transform at will, the “nine times” thing is bullshit, too. It was just integrated to the legend because of superstition surrounding cats having nine lives.”, Lexie added.

“Okay, okay. Well, it’s nice to meet you, I guess”, Scott intervened in his characteristic “friendly leader” tone, “I’m Scott, the-”

“Oh, we know who you are, Scott McCall, the famous True Alpha. Your reputation precedes you,” Lexie interrupted with a friendly smile. “And you,” she added while pointing at Liam, “are his first Beta, Liam Dunbar”, she then pointed to Mason, “never without his human best friend Mason Hewitt.”, then to Malia, “You must be Malia Hale, the werecoyote, and Alpha’s girlfriend – love the boots, by the way”, she added while pointing at her feet with a wink. Malia looked confused but pleased with the compliment. Next was Lydia:

“You were the easiest to guess upon seeing you for the first time today; real strong banshee vibes going on.”

“That’s me,” Lydia answered with a bit of pride in her voice, but a sour expression. Stiles knew being what she was wasn’t a fun ride. 

“This leaves us dear Dr. Deaton, talented vet _and_ druid on the side – love a man who can do both,” she added. To everybody’s surprise, the doctor actually chuckled at her words. _Freaking cute charming witch._

“Aaand last but not least,” she started while Stiles realized he was the only one left, “Stiles Stilinski, future FBI agent, former demon-possessed, Adderall addicted ( _No I’m not!_ ) genius human side-kick, and Scott’s best friend. And he’s cute, too.”, she concluded, still with a sly smile on her face.

At which point the said “genius human side-kick” choked loudly on his spit while taking a beautiful shade of crimson from neck to ears. He could hear Lydia laughing quietly at him, but she still patted his back in sympathy while he was regaining the ability to breathe normally.

“That’s a nice little pack you got there, Scott McCall. Although I know a few are not present right now.” Lexie said, pretending to ignore the effect she had on Stiles.

“How do you know so much about everybody?”, Scott asked, getting suspicious. “I know I’m somewhat… known to the American supernatural sphere ( _Oh how humble of you, Scotty_ ), but my pack, not so much.”

“Well, we’ve been… in the area for longer than you think. Two weeks, to be precise. And we’ve done a little bit of snooping around, getting to know the town and its protectors better than through the stories passed around by pack emissaries and hunters.”, Lexie answered. Stiles knew there was something more to this. Lachlann confirmed his intuition:

“We had to make sure we could trust you,” he said before turning to his sister. They stared into each other’s eyes for just a second, as if asking each other if they should say _something more_ or not. “Because we need your help. Well, your protection, to be honest”, the redhead finally concluded.

This confession came as a shock for the pack, but for different reasons the twins probably imagined. Scott got really somber all of sudden, for good reasons. Everybody had the Theo fiasco in mind, the whole ordeal had been very traumatic for the pack, which had almost been decimated by the – then – evil chimera. At the time, the teenager had slowly infiltrated their group, also by pretending he needed help; a pack, for safety. But it had been years ago, and Theo had since (partly) made up for his crimes and became a much better person, even if Stiles hated to admit it (he held grudges for life, couldn’t help it). Nevertheless, the situation was to be treated with caution. Malia asked the question burning on everybody’s lips:

“How can _we_ be sure we can trust you? We’ve been betrayed in the past and it won’t happen again, _ever_.”, she emphasized, arms crossed on her chest defensively.

“We’re sorry to hear that,” Lexie said, looking sincere. “And, to answer your question… You can’t. And we’d understand if you wanted us gone, but…”, she marked a pause. Her face was grave, she seemed desperate and on the verge of crying. Lachlann took it from here:

“You guys are our only hope. We’ve thought about other options, other places to go, other packs to ask for help, but Beacon Hills, the power it holds… And you, a True Alpha, and your one of a kind pack… You are our best shot at staying alive.” He, too, was grave and looking dead serious in the Alpha’s eyes.

Stiles was starting to believe they were sincere, and it had nothing to do with any magical charm; it felt like they let their guard down moments ago. His instinct (and maybe something else more… whimsical) was telling him they could trust them, for now. It didn’t mean they shouldn’t remain careful, but they could at least figure out what was making them fear for their lives, and maybe help.

Scott, it seemed, was feeling the same way as his best friend; his expression had softened. After checking with each present member of the pack as well as Deaton with a look, to which all responded with a nod, he declared:

“Alright, but you’ll have to tell us _everything_. If someone, or something, is after you for some reason, we ought to know what it is and what it wants. Then we can fully decide if we want to help – or if we can, even.”

“Yes, of course, thank you.” Lexie answered with relief.

“Ok, then I got a question,” Liam exclaimed immediately. “How did you get in here without Deaton knowing?” It seemed he had been trying to figure it out the whole time and he just couldn’t wrap his mind around their little trick.

The twins looked at each other, grinning with complicity. “Oh but he did know, didn’t you doctor?”, Lachlann asked the vet.

All turned to Deaton in shock: had he been secretly hiding the twins for weeks without anybody knowing? Was he lying about not knowing much about Catsies? So many questions were swirling in Stiles hyperactive mind. Frankly, they probably had a much simpler explanation.

“I did, and did not.”, answered the vet. _Well, this clears that_ , thought Stiles sarcastically. _Why does he always have to do that?_

“Earlier today, I’d say around 2 hours before you guys arrived here, a confused lady came in with two cats in box.”, Deaton started. _Of course_ , Stiles thought, _just like that_. “She said they were sitting on her front porch when she got home from work and although they looked perfectly healthy and were very nice and affectionate, she felt compelled to bring them to the nearest veterinary clinic, ‘just in case’. I’m guessing now a mild persuasion spell would have done the trick.”, he said while looking at the twins with a knowing smile. They exaggeratedly feigned ignorance and the vet chuckled.

“Of course, I thought nothing of it at first and took them in. Upon examination, I determined they were around 2 years old, healthy, well fed; probably house cats. One was a grey tabby male, the other an orange tabby female, and they had no identification chip nor tattoo, so I put them in the backroom and planned on putting online posters up for them, in case they had escaped from any nearby house.

“When you all walked in earlier and started talking about two weird new teachers that smelled like cats, I connected the dots. I knew I had a book here on what you were probably talking about, and I wanted to check if my memory was right before eventually getting them. But, as I soon realized, they were obviously counting on you coming here and had planned to reveal themselves at that moment. As they did.”, he concluded his story. He looked weirdly admirative of the two witches who had managed to infiltrate his clinic very easily.

Now that the mood in the room had visibly lightened, Stiles thought it was a good moment to finally acknowledge how freaking cool it was that they were discovering a new kind of supernatural beings, and one that was thought to have disappear! And apparently was ancestral to the Scottish Highlands only? And was able to perform powerful magic? And transform into cats. Why cats and not another animal? It probably had something to do with the myth of witches having cats as familiars, right? Stiles had to look it up. But did they have to learn it or was it innate? This, he should definitely ask the twins. And approximately six hundred other questions. He had to make a list. Quick before he forgot: First, what is their family’s story, sec-

“Stiles?”, he heard Scott call next to him. “Stiles to earth. Are you okay buddy? You looked _very_ spaced out.” He was suddenly brought back from his crazy forming thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah sorry. It’s just-“, he looked at the twins: “I have so. Many. Questions.”

“Aaand here it comes,” commented Liam with a laugh. The witches looked amused.

“Yes Stiles, we would love to have dinner with you tonight,” Lexie cut him. “You can ask all the questions you want, tab’s on you though, we are _broke_.”, she finished while jumping out of the table in sync with her brother.

“Wha-?”, Stiles gasped astonished.

“Can we join?”, this was an enthusiastic Mason – probably including Liam without even thinking - asking. “I, too, want to know _everything_ about you too. If that’s okay.”

“Sure”, Lexie answered joyfully before Stiles had time to close his mouth from the surprise, and open it again to say something.

“Perfect then! Can’t come though, we’re having dinner at my mom’s tonight”, Scott informed them. “But we should meet again tomorrow morning at The Den, we still have some serious talking to do. We’ll talk details on the group chat.”

“What? Are we leaving?”, Stiles asked, completely lost.

“Yes, Deaton just told us he had an appointment soon, but you weren’t listening.” Lydia gently scolded him.

 _Wow, I was really spacing out, was I_ , thought the human before saying “bye” to Deaton and following his friends outside. He noticed on the parking lot that the twins were still in their robes.

“Hey Lexie, don’t you have actual clothes to put on somewhere? You’re not gonna go around town dressed like that, right?”, he asked worriedly.

“Of course not, we magically hid our stuff close by and are gonna get it right now. We gotta be quick, the spell will break soon. See you at your place at 7? Perfect.”, she monologued.

She waved the others goodbye with a quick “See ya!”, then she and her brother transformed back into cats, leaving the white robes in heaps on the concrete floor. Once they had emerged from under the fabric, they each wrapped themselves around a leg of the still stunted young man for a second, purring loudly. Then, they took off just as fast as they had come. Utterly confused, Stiles watched them disappear into a bush.

He turned to his friends, who were trying really hard not to laugh: “Did they just… cat-hug me goodbye?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave Kudos or a comment if you liked it, thank you and see you soon!


	3. The Den, ft. The Hangover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 3 it's way longer than the other two but it's information-packed and it was really fun to write, I hope you like it!
> 
> Small disclaimer: It came to my attention when I was rewatching the show recently that although Scott & cie are supposed to be 2 years older than the Puppy Pack, Liam (& friends) begin senior year right when the McCall Pack leaves for college, which would mean that they are actually only 1 year apart. As always, the show makes no sense, but I've personally chosen for them to be 2 years apart because I prefer that.  
> This makes Scott & friends 2Oyo and Liam & friends 18yo, so we're clear.

**3\. The Den, ft. The Hangover**

_POV Stiles_

[link to PGC screenshots at the end]

The next morning, Stiles was woken up by a very loud text alarm (that he didn’t remember setting up on his phone, _ever_ ), head pounding. He cursed, or at least tried to, but the result was more like a mumbled mess of painful sounds coming out of his dry mouth. He went to sit up in his bed, and the world spun around wildly; he stopped moving before throwing up in his clean sheets. When his vision finally stabilized (kind of), he reached out to his phone to check the text, and was met with four awful revelations: first, somebody – probably Lexie – had changed his background to a picture of him asleep in a car, mouth wide open and drool dripping onto his hoodie; second, the text was from Scott on the PGC and it said “We’ll be at The Den in 20 with breakfast”; third, he had drunk texted the group chat the night before and it did not look good for him; and fourth, it was 9:37 and he was going to be late.

The rush of panic that followed helped him clear the hangover clouds in his mind just enough to put his two feet on the floor and… realize he was not alone in his bed. There, where his feet used to be tucked in under his blanket, two very familiar looking cats were opening their eyes slowly, stretching and yawning, trying to detangle themselves from the furry pile they’d created while sleeping against each other all night. 

“What the-”, the human started, “You guys slept in my bed?!”, he yelled at the twins, positively startling them.

As an answer, Lexie winked at him slowly with both eyes and leaped towards him, then proceeded to rub her head and body against his arm and back, like a _normal_ cat asking to be pet. But Stiles was not having any of her bullshit, he sprung to his feet hastily (almost fainting from dizziness in the process):

“No, no no no no no, don’t try to get to me with your fuzzy cuteness,” he said while walking in a not so straight line towards the bathroom. “We’re late. I’m going to take a shower and you better be human and dressed when I come back out!”

Once the water was running, Stiles tried to recollect his memories of the previous night.

***

_The previous day:_

After the meeting at Deaton’s had finished and the cat twins had vanished from their sight, the group separated to go about their plans for the rest of the day. Stiles had promised his dad he’s come by the Police station to say hi and bring some food, so he asked Lydia for a drive around town, which she granted because his stuff was in her car anyways.

Once at the station, his dad decided he could afford to take the rest of the afternoon off (as it was a slow day anyways) and to drive them back home. Stiles said goodbye to Lydia on the parking lot; it was a little weird not to do everything together like they used to, he thought, but he didn’t dwell on his contradicting feelings for too long. At home, he unpacked his stuff and the Sheriff and him had a couple of hours of father-son reunion in front of the TV. Stiles told him everything he could about his FBI training and the twins’ situation, and his dad updated him on local cases and general town news, like they’d always do when they’d see each other again after a long time apart. They rarely had times for long calls since they were always busy with studying and police work, so they really cherished their time together.

The evening came fast though, and Stiles had to get ready to go out with the twins, although he didn’t feel like he’d had a say in his evening plans. When confronted with having to make a choice of what to wear, he suddenly felt really nervous _. Quit the bullshit_ , he said to himself, _you’re not going on a date_. Still, he couldn’t help the weird feeling from clouding his head, and for once, he was glad Liam and Mason would be tagging along. The thought of a whole evening spent alone with the twins was somehow liquefying, _they are so damn intimidating, with their perfect beautifulness and beautiful perfection_. He texted Mason privately to come pick him up around 7, while hoping the twins would _and_ would not show up at the same time.

Unfortunately, or fortunately (he still couldn’t decide), they did show up. Stiles briefly introduced them to his – still very confused - father and they quickly joined Liam and Mason in the car who was pulling up in front of his house. When asked how they moved around town when not in cat form, they simply answered “the bus”, and Stiles felt so stupid he could have jumped out of the moving vehicle. Apparently, the duo still had the same effect on him fully dressed as they’d had naked during the afternoon. _That’s good to know_ , he thought bitterly.

The group quickly decided of a place to eat at, and soon enough, they were sitting in a dinner booth with a pile of junk food in front of them. Unsurprisingly, the twins were very friendly and fun to be around. Lexie’s bubbly personality cheered the whole restaurant, it seemed. Lachlann wasn’t as talkative, but every time he opened his mouth, only interesting, funny stuff came out. The total opposite of Stiles who was almost constantly babbling boring nonsense in social situation, to cope with his “people anxiety”, as he often called it. Either way, they went on chatting about nothing and everything for a while.

Stiles learned a few things about them throughout their casual conversation: they had moved to California from Ohio around four months ago (for a reason, they said, they would disclose the next day during “serious talk”), they were born on July 16, 1993 (Lexie was first to come out by 3 full minutes, she said), their last name was _not_ Williams, but actually Richardson, and their mom was fully Scottish and their dad was American, but they didn’t know any of their extended family personally. However, their mom had told them a lot about her past in their family coven, and the stories that went with it.

When the conversation came to a stall, Stiles remembered his six hundred (or so) questions list and decided it was time to be Annoying™.

“Guys, I have to ask: the cat transformation thing, did you have to learn it? And what about magic? Is it natural or taught?”, he asked. Mason looked suddenly very interested, like he wanted to ask something similar but didn’t want to be rude.

“Ah, he finally asked! I’m surprised that’s not the first thing you did when we arrived,” she teased gently. “The Catsy trait is transmitted genetically, and frankly, we were lucky to get it, given our dad was fully human (“was”, Stiles noted mentally). It’s also innate, but we have to learn to control it, like werewolves-born, in a way. Magic, on the other hand, is a little different: as a witch’s children, we naturally have it inside of us in larger quantities than anyone, -”

“Well, it’s a little more complicated than that, but I guess we’ll explain it in more details later,” Lachlann interrupted.

“Right,” Lexie resumed while giving the side eye to her brother, “So, we have the magic inside of us, and we might have been able to perform a few small charms and spells without training, but for the more serious and precise stuff, we had to learn it. Our family is one of the most powerful covens in the world, they’ve been holding magical secrets for centuries, and have infinite knowledge on the subject. Our mom taught us all she could, and I’d say we’re doing pretty good,” she finished proudly.

“Awesome,” Mason commented. “But… What exactly can you do? And how? Do you have magic wands, crystal balls and gems? Do you brew potions in cauldrons? Or is it all… Hand gestures and incantations?”, he asked frantically.

“Wow, could you be more cliché?”, Lachlann scolded him, looking haughty.

“Yeah mate, don’t be so offensive.”, Liam added.

After a second, Lachlann relaxed and laughed: “Actually we kinda do some of these things. Sorry, I had to,” he answered mockingly to Mason’s shocked and confused face.

“They are not necessary, but depending of the kind of witchcraft you practice, you use different methods. There are as many kinds of magic as there are witches, or druids and druidesses, sorcerers and sorceresses, warlocks, enchanters and enchantresses, whatever they call themselves. All people around the world have their own culture surrounding magic, and their own ways. Even some people who aren’t born witches can practice it. We all have the capacity inside of ourselves to canalize this energy we call magic and use it; some more than others.”, he concluded in his deep fascinating voice.

Stiles was captivated, all he wanted right now was to learn about this energy and the different ways to practice magic, as long as it was Lachlann telling it all.

“Do you mean that even… we could do magic?”, Liam asked, looking intrigued for the first time.

“Technically, yes. But then again, not everybody has the right… predispositions. Let’s say, most people have that _thing_ in them, waiting to be lighted up and open the way, but they would need to have-”

“A Spark,” Stiles cut him. Throughout Lachlann’s explanation, he couldn’t help but to feel like he’d heard something similar before, and then he remembered: Deaton. That day, the vet had been trying to convince him that he had the ability to use mountain ash, if he believed in its power. At the times, Stiles had thought the little trick he pulled off, that night at the rave party, was just the ash doing its thing, but now… Now he was not so sure anymore.

“Yes Stiles, a Spark.”, the redhead confirmed. And as he was staring into his eyes, Stiles could tell he knew something. About his Spark.

“Well, I’m lost,” Mason declared, breaking their little moment.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie. There’s something more interesting Lachlann didn’t mention: specialties.”

 _The sly witch is changing the subject_ , thought Stiles. _But she’s right, it does sound interesting._

“As in, some magical stuff you’re better at than others?”, inquired Mason, completely on board.

“Exactly. Guess what mine is!”, she exclaimed, posing exaggeratedly like it would help them find the answer. Stiles didn’t hesitate one second before saying:

“Mind control, obviously.”

“Oh, he’s good,” she whispered admiratively to her brother, obviously knowing they could all hear. “To be precise, I can’t exactly control the mind of anybody. It’s more about persuasion, and emotions. I can make you feel a certain way, of convince you of some stuff. And I’m really good at it.”, she finished with a wink.

“Wait, have you ever done it to us? To the pack?”, Liam asked, suspicious again.

“No. You can’t trust us if we manipulate you, but we can’t trust you either. We need your help, but it has to come from you, or else it won’t work as well, you know what I mean?”

“Yeah, makes sense,” Stiles agreed. Lexie gave him a soft, thankful smile in return, and he guessed Lachlann did, too, but he didn’t want to look because it would probably make him blush till the end of times. Eager to learn more, Mason asked:

“Okay, correct me if I’m wrong, but your specialty, it comes from your personality, right?”

“Oh my, you really are a bunch of geniuses!”, Lexie exclaimed. “Yes, you’re absolutely right. How did you guess?”, she said, as if it was not absolutely obvious that she had great social skills and she could convince anybody about anything, with or without magic.

“Instinct,” Mason said proudly. “So Lachlann, what is _your_ specialty?”

The freckled man didn’t answer right away, instead he grinned mysteriously and, in his low voice, said finally:

“It’s more… dangerous. And harder to grasp when you’re not magical yourself.”

 _Right, this checks out, the mysterious twin does mysterious magic_ , thought Stiles.

“So cool,” Mason gasped under his breath.

At this point, they were all done with their food, except for Liam who was absentmindedly seeping gulps from his vanilla milkshake. Of course, Stiles had some more questions, but he had already so much to process, he didn’t know where to start.

“Ok, not that I’m bored guys, but it’s Spring Break and I don’t know about you, but I’m planning on having as much fun as I can, while things are still light and breezy,” Lexie exclaimed, obviously hinting to their current delicate situation. “Do you know any place where we could go drink some cheap booze?”

“Hum, you know we’re all underaged, except you two, right?”, Mason answered.

For some reason, which had nothing to do with a beautiful redhead, _I swear_ , Stiles didn’t want to call it a night. Hesitantly, he said:

“I know a place. The boss is a friend of mine. They mostly do board games nights, so they let minors come in. And get a few drinks, if they’re friends.”

“Board games huh? Nerd”, Lexie teased.

“They’re doing a ‘Uno’ special tonight. But you’re right not to come if you’re too scared: I’m gonna crush you”, he added in a competitive tone, grinning.

“Ok cutie, we’re in: let’s see who crushes who…”, she immediately challenged back.

***

Thankfully for Stiles, who was too hangovered to remember he didn’t have a car anymore in Beacon Hills, Lydia was in his driveway 10 minutes after he got in the shower, ready to pick him (and the twins) up. They were on their way to the Preserve – all human, dressed and on time - a few seconds later. When Lydia finally parked in The Den’s courtyard after only 5 minutes on the road, Stiles was thanking all the Gods he didn’t even believe in for allowing him to make it without puking in his mouth and/or through the window.

The fresh, pure air of the woods was a blessing to his upset stomach, however another surprise got him shaken up. He knew Malia had the key to their new HQ, so he didn’t expect Derek to be here, but right there in the driveway, next to Mason’s car, was a black Camaro. And sure enough, as he stepped out of Lydia’s car, the front door opened to reveal the tall, buff, black haired werewolf. Stiles didn’t think he would be this glad to see him, but it had been a while. Months, for sure.

Behind them, the Jeep was coming to a halt, and Scott got out of it as soon as the motor stopped to go greet his former mentor and friend, the rest of the pack on its tail.

“Derek! What are you doing here my dude?”, Scott cried in excitement while pulling him in a friendly but quick hug (it was still Derek after all). “Malia, did you know about it?” The coyote shook her head to say ‘no’, looking pleased by the surprise.

“I couldn’t miss the first official pack meeting taking place in The Den.”, Derek answered with a smirk. Stiles smiled, proud he came up with the name, and everybody, even _Derek_ liked it.

“Aw, it’s so good to see you man, it’s been forever!”, Scott exclaimed. “It looks _great_ , by the way.”

It did look great. Derek had built (well, conceptualized, really) a modest size mansion: its architectural style was a perfect mix between a forest cabin and a modern villa, with straight shapes, cream colored walls and both wooden and bricks details. From where he was standing, Stiles could also see a nice sized terrace on the second floor and large glass French doors leading to what looked like… A library?

“Come on in, I’m giving you a tour,” Derek invited.

Stiles stepped forward and greeted the man like Scott had done, adding:

“Good to see you again Sourwolf”, to which the man rolled his eyes. Stiles knew he didn’t mean it, though: he had stopped getting annoyed by his extravagances a long time ago.

“Oh, and this is our new… Friends? Lexie and La-”

“Lachlann”, Stiles was cut in his introductions, “but you can call me Lachie, or at my number”, the redhead said smoothly while seductively holding his hand at Derek to shake. Which he did, _grinning_.

“What? Lachie? What the-. Dude, Derek is 34, he’s basically an old man, don’t-… You know what, I don’t care.”, Stiles eventually finished, entering the house.

He heard Derek _chuckle_ behind him and Lexie whisper “Jealous?” in his ear, but chose to ignore it, he was only going to make himself look more ridiculous. Although, maybe he _was_ jealous. Not of Lachlann, because if he did have a weird inappropriate and shameful teenage crush on Derek at some point in high school, he got over it pretty quickly. No, somehow, he felt betrayed that he wasn’t the one whom “Lachie” gave his nickname to. After all the (weird, drunk) bonding they’d done the previous night… Talking of which, he heard Scott ask:

“How come you were so wasted last night? I didn’t know you were going out _out_.”

“I didn’t know either, these monsters _forced_ me,” he lied.

“No we did not, _you_ wanted to beat us all at Uno. We just made it a drinking game”, Lexie said with a fake innocent smile.

“It was really fun,” Mason added, “especially considering he did not win once.” Liam laughed with him while Stiles shot them a mildly angry glare.

“Well, I’m glad you had fun. And you were able to put up with drunk-Stiles without trying to kill him, that’s proof enough we can trust you, at least for now,” the Alpha said to their guest with a small laugh.

“What? Brother!”, screamed Stiles, hurt by his best friend’s terrible betrayal.

“Oooh, I wouldn’t say we didn’t try,” Lachlann joked. “He _was_ being a pain in the ass.”

Stiles expected his friends to defend him at least a little at this point.

“Nobody can blame you for that.” They did not, as proved Malia, who received the approval of everybody.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” Especially Derek’s apparently.

He had closed the front door and was leading them into the leaving room.

“Come on, you guys! You can’t side with those total strangers!”, shouted an outraged Stiles behind them.

He could hear them laugh, and he knew this was all just friendly teasing, but he liked to pretend he cared about his dignity. _Ah_ , Stiles sighed internally, _I’ve missed this, somehow_.

***

_Back to the previous night:_

They were starting their fifth game of Uno and Stiles was _not_ in luck this evening. He had been losing every single game with more cards than he could count in his hands, and worse of all: Lexie had convinced the group to add rules to make it a drinking game. Thankfully, they were only drinking beers (except Liam and Mason who were only allowed soda), but still, having to finish your whole pint in a few gulps because the whole table had +2 cards to counter yours was _not fun_.

When the seventh game started, Stiles was already drunk enough for his common sense to be dead and buried somewhere deep inside of him, and he was determined to keep playing until he won at least once. The twins had also been drinking, of course, but they were only getting visibly tipsy, meanwhile the human had trouble pronouncing “reverse” properly and was hyperactively singing along to every song playing in the bar.

“Come on, that’s not fair!”, he shouted when forced to draw four new cards, and drink four more gulps of his Belgian ale. “I swear I’ll get you,” he drunkenly threatened a rosy cheeked Lachlann, who was laughing hysterically while telling Mason to play “blue” next.

Stiles was so busy staring at the cheerful redhead - whose curly locks were all messy from running his hand into them distractingly so many times – that he didn’t even realize the game had reversed before he heard Lexie cry “Uno!” enthusiastically.

“What? I didn’t even play once!”, he exclaimed, jumping off his seat in anger, almost hitting his glass off the table in the process. Drunk Stiles did not have the full control of his limbs.

***

“And last but not least, the place I’m sure most of you will like the most: the roof terrace.”, Derek said while opening the tall glass French door leading to a nice, cozy outside space.

As promised, he had given them a complete tour of the mansion, showing off its nicely decorated living room, fully equipped kitchen and dining space, three bathrooms, four bedrooms and library/study, before finishing with the terrace they were all eager to discover, and party on.

The whole time Stiles had been daydreaming about the previous night, still trying to remember some blurry parts of it. Meanwhile, the rest of the pack was casually chatting with the twins, getting to know them better and probably making fun of drunk-Stiles, again.

However, they were all reminded they had some serious talk to do by a very Alpha-y Scott who was setting breakfast items on the outdoor table. The group sat around it on the fancy garden furniture, happily diving in the bags of fresh bakeries. After a few more seconds of chatter, the Alpha cleared his throat and declared:

“Ok guys, I know it’s early, kinda, but we have an important decision to make. Lexie, Lachlann, you agreed to tell us everything about your… situation, so go ahead, we’re listening.”

“Right, ahem”, started Lexie, looking nervous for the first time ever since Stiles met her. “As some of you already know, we moved here from Ohio about four months ago, what you don’t know is why…”, she paused. “Ah, it’s harder than I thought it would be.” She cleared her throat and her brother took her hand in his, they were both visibly upset.

“Four months ago, our mom was, uh… murdered. By her former coven… Our Scottish family.”

There was a long, solemn silence. Everybody here had lost somebody, at some point, and knew how much it hurt. The twins were wiping away the tears already forming in their eyes, trying to keep their composure. It hurt Stiles to see his new friends like this, and it reminded him of when he lost his mom. Nobody dared to say anything, so although his eyes were also filled with hot tears and his throat tightened, he managed:

“Hey uh, ahem. I’m sorry about your mom, I know how you feel. Lost mine when I was 8.”

To the surprise of all, Derek added in a low voice: “I was 16. Lost almost my whole family.”

The pack knew how traumatic it had been, and how guilty the man had felt and was probably still feeling. You really had to touch Derek deep inside for him to open up like this. The twins smiled at them both, soft, painful, understanding smiles.

“Thank you,” Lexie whispered, before taking a deep breath to continue. “The sob story doesn’t end here, unfortunately. We also lost our dad when we were 10, also killed by our family. I think you can easily guess the basis of all our current problems: we’re being chased, well, hunted, really. By this coven. The one our mom was once part of.”

Another haunted silence. Stiles understood better why the twins had avoided a number of subjects the night before. Scott broke it:

“Why? Why kill their own family?”, he asked, confused.

“Long story, but I’ll try to be quick. Our mom came to work in the US from Scotland when she was 21. She met our dad, who was having a really hard time with his own family at the time, and they fell in love. They lived together for several months without my mom’s relatives knowing. Because, you see, the coven didn’t approve of unions being formed outside of it, to ‘preserve their bloodline’, they would say. Except when mom went home that faithful summer to try to convince her mom to let her marry an American, she was already pregnant. Of us.

“The coven gave her a choice: either she had an abortion and came back home to marry somebody more ‘suitable’, or she would be banned from the coven, thus becoming a direct threat, as she knew too much. This meant death. But still, she chose our dad, and us, and fled back to the USA, knowing very well it would condemn her and her new family to a life in hiding.” Lexie told them slowly. It looked like she needed a moment, so Lachlann resumed:

“For 10 years, our parents and us never stayed in the same city or state for more than a few months. We were homeschooled, and mom and dad would find new jobs pretty easily thanks to mom’s persuasion skills – and I mean magic, nothing else. But then, one day in Wyoming… Dad was killed. Mom never hid the truth, we knew about our extended family’s… traditions. We were crushed, but we had to move on, and out of State, because this meant they were close, _too_ close.

“However, in a weird twist of faith, our dad’s murder saved our lives: now that we were only the three of us, and all Catsies, mom could protect us better. She used her powerful magic to enchant these,” he said while getting his green gem necklace out of his shirt, his sister doing the same by pulling her left pants’ sleeve up to show her own.

“Mom had a similar one, she wore it as a ring. As long as we were wearing them, a powerful magic concealing ward was hiding us from our enemies. After a few more months on the road, just to make sure we weren’t being followed, we finally settled in Ohio. For 11 years, we lived happily, in peace. Until…” He paused. Lexie put her hand on his shoulder gently and she talked again:

“Until our mom got into a severe car accident five months ago. She was badly hurt, and no magic we perform could help her… so she was put in a coma. The thing is, this ward concealing us and our magic to other witches, it had to be fueled and maintained regularly so it wouldn’t lose its power, and only our mom could do this. We hoped and prayed for her to wake up, even tried a few spells… But nothing worked, and after three weeks, we had to face the truth: she wasn’t going to wake up in time. We had to go before the coven could find us, if they hadn’t already.

“A week later, the hospital called us. She was gone. Murdered in her bed…”, she was crying again, and half of the pack with her. “We fled, like she’d taught us to do all our lives, like cowards… We knew that’s what she wanted, but it still feels like we abandoned her…” Lachlann took his sister in his arms and they sobbed in each other’s embrace for a few minutes.

Stiles had heard many heartbreaking stories, but this one was particularly brutal. The courage it must have taken, the pain they went through… He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like. He saw Lydia crying heavy tears next to him, and he couldn’t help but to reach out and put his arms around her in a comforting gesture.

After a few minutes of sniffing and face wiping, the pack and the twins were back to normal, kind of. Everybody had abandoned their half-eaten breakfast on the table. The mood was heavy, but in a very Scotty manner, the Alpha finally declared:

“There is still hope for you. You are here, alive, and strong. I think I speak as my whole pack when I say that we’ll do anything we can to help you. Right guys?”

All nodded, determined looks on their faces. They’d been through hardships before, and never once had they given up on anybody who deserved to be saved.

“Thank you so much, all of you. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”, Lexie answered with deep sincerity.

“Stay strong for your mom, and fight.”, Scott replied immediately.

***

_The previous night again, much later:_

The had played twenty-four (24) games, and Stiles did not win _once_. On the bright side, he was way too wasted to remember how many times they started a new game, nor to care about the result of any of them. The group of friends was walking slowly through town to get back to Mason’s car; Stiles held in between the – also drunk – twins, babbling drunkenly about how pretty they were and how soft their hair was. At some point, he thought it would be a great idea to inform the group chat about it, and Liam watched his phone in delight as the dumb texts piled up.

That’s when an unfortunate “flat on the face” fall happened, as Stiles tripped on his own feet and the twins could do nothing but watch and laugh. Lexie might have taken a picture, but the human was too busy hurting to care. Lachlann, on the other hand, tried (unsuccessfully) to help him get back up.

Once at the car, a very tired and annoyed Mason shoved the three burdens in his back seat and informed Scott he was driving them home. When he pulled up in front of Stiles’ house, the brown-haired man was already sound asleep. Thankfully, the twins did an excellent job at waking him up _painfully_ so they could go in. Liam went with them, just to make sure they wouldn’t crash on the front porch and sleep there for the rest of the night.

“Sleep wherever you want as long as it’s not in his dad’s bed, alright?”, he said to the twins before waving them goodbye and leaving the house.

In his room, Stiles remaining consciousness reminded him to drink a glass of water and wash his teeth before going to bed. He was so tired he could have slept standing upright, so when he finally slid his sore body in his fresh bed sheets and two furry creatures crawled by his sides, he petted them goodnight and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the link to the PGC sreenshots: https://absolutely-obsessed.tumblr.com/post/612949527777951744/here-are-the-screenshots-from-the-pack-group
> 
> I hope you liked it, if you did, please leave Kudos or a comment! 
> 
> Chapter 4 is almost ready, Bookmark my work if you want to read it as soon as it's up. 
> 
> See you soon!


	4. Spark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 4! From now on I'll probably be a bit slower at updating this fanfiction cause Animal Crossing in out and I'm basically playing all day everyday lmao. But chapter 5 is ready and I have a lot of ideas for chapter 6 and following, so I'll try to write a bit in between my farming cessions! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Small disclaimer: It came to my attention when I was rewatching the show recently that although Scott & cie are supposed to be 2 years older than the Puppy Pack, Liam (& friends) begin senior year right when the McCall Pack leaves for college, which would mean that they are actually only 1 year apart. As always, the show makes no sense, but I've personally chosen for them to be 2 years apart because I prefer that.  
> This makes Scott & friends 2Oyo and Liam & friends 18yo, so we're clear.

**4\. Spark**

_POV Stiles_

It looked like heavy clouds lifted from over the twins’ head when the definite decision to protect them was taken by the pack. Stiles could see them getting back to their normal cheery, friendly self. But they needed a plan, too many things were still unclear to the young FBI trainee:

“Ok guys, if we’re gonna do this, we’ll need a little more info.” He declared, looking at Lexie and Lachlann. “How can you be sure you weren’t followed here? You said your mom’s ward was down.”

“It is. Thankfully she taught us pretty efficient protection spells, we’ve been casting them regularly for months. But they’re not permanent, it’s only temporary relief. We also made sure to take the long way around the country to get here. We travelled by bus with fake IDs, stopping in big cities only so we wouldn’t attract the attention on us, changing our appearances magically each time. We were really careful,” Lexie said.

“They should be looking for us in Oklahoma City right now. We made sure to leave a heavy magical trace there. We’re counting on the fact we can predict their moves, but they can’t ours: they don’t know us at all, or what we’re capable of, but we do; they’ve been after us our whole lives, and mom told us all we needed to know about their methods. Besides, she always said we were very magically advanced for our young ages, and if she was right, it means we have one big advantage over them: they’re underestimating us, at least for now.”, Lachlann completed.

“Don’t you think they realized you were harder to catch that they’d expected by now? You left Ohio around four months ago, they’re probably really pissed off and doing anything they can to find your trail”, Scott said worriedly.

“You’re right, but we’re still one step ahead of them at the moment, and we haven’t played our big move yet. If we achieve what we’re intending to do, we might never need to confront them, which, I promise you, is for the best.” Lexie paused.

“What is it, this move? Can we help?”, the Alpha asked, looking hopeful. As Stiles expected, Lachlann answered:

“As you know, we came in Beacon Hills for a very specific reason. Not only did we know your help - if you granted it - would be a key asset, but we were looking for something else: The Nemeton.”

Right, Stiles did remember him mentioning the power the town held from the previous day, but he didn’t know what to make of it at the time, although he guessed it had something to do with the ancient magical tree stump hidden in the Preserve.

“At first, our belief was that if we managed to channel some of the energy that passes through it, we would be powerful enough to create our own ward, but the outcome would be very unpredictable: balancing this much energy between the hands of only two witches is dangerous, even for us. It could kill us.”, Lachlann explained.

“Okay, so not a great plan,” Malia said laconically.

“That’s all we had at the time”, Lexie answered defensively. “But then, faith offered us better… It put Stiles on our path.”

Stiles almost jumped in surprise when he heard his name after “faith offered” and “better”.

“What? How? Why? Where?”, he babbled confusedly. Lexie chuckled, before saying:

“You have no idea what you’re capable of, don’t you?”

“Oh, I think he knows,” Lachlann retorted.

“What?! What do I know? Oh my god I-. Just because you’re gorgeously mysterious doesn’t allow you to play with me like that!”, he screamed at the redhead, getting increasingly more annoyed and confused.

“Relax! I’m sorry you thought we were teasing, we’re not. And thanks for the compliment, by the way.”

“Wh-”, Stiles started before he was cut by the tall witch:

“Your Spark, Stiles. That’s what we meant.”

“Yeah, we thought you were at least a little more… aware of it. Honey, you’re magical”, Lexie explained calmly.

Blank. Stiles’ mind was, for once in his life, completely blank.

“What the-? Our Stiles?”, he heard Scott asking, echoed by the rest of the pack. In his stupor, he still noticed the disbelieving looks on his friends’ faces. _Wow, thanks for the support, guys._

“I don’t get it. That can’t-. No. You’re mistaken, I’m not… _this._ ”, he managed finally.

Although, it did make sense, kind of. First there was Deaton enigmatic mention of his “Spark” years ago, then his weird newly found instinct that sensed shifts in the twins’ behavior he shouldn’t be able to sense, and, even more weirdly, them being interested in _him_. But he never felt “magical” … Well, outside of his possession episode, that is. Which was frankly a memory he’d rather forget altogether. He was barely functioning as a normal human, how could he do… mystical stuff? That’s when he realized something frightening:

“Wait, you guys are putting all your hopes of survival in _me_? You think _I_ can help you put this ward up?”, he asked desperately.

“We know you can.”, they answered at the exact same time, smiling fondly.

But Stiles wasn’t in the mood for their charming attitude. In the midst of his identity crisis, he had made another painful realization: what he thought to be a nice friendship forming in the face of danger had been a lie, and the twins probably only cared about him because they believed he could save them, somehow. _You stupid, boring piece of shit. You actually believed you had your chance, didn’t you?_

He went livid, and it was like his body was suddenly remembering he was getting over a nasty hangover just minutes ago. Feeling sick in his stomach, he rushed inside to the nearest bathroom without a look at his friends.

***

_POV Scott_

The Alpha watched in confusion as the exchange between the twins and his best friend unfolded. Stiles was magical, apparently. As a werewolf, and his Alpha, he felt like he should have known, but yet again… he was only just a hyperaware “danger doggo” (Stiles’ words, not his) and as far as he knew, it didn’t come with a magic radar.

He didn’t have time to ask himself more questions though, as he heard Stiles pulse shoot up suddenly as he was becoming pale as death. _Uh, that’s not good_. And sure enough, the brown-haired human quickly took off to the inside of the mansion. The acrid smell of anxiety and sweat lingered in the air for a moment, as the pack fell in silence again.

“I guess it’s not the right moment to ask you how you became teachers at Beacon Hills High School”, said Mason to the twins.

Scott couldn’t help but to shot him a disapproving glare, before also getting inside to look for his best friend.

After a few seconds, he found him in the farthest bathroom down the bedroom’s hall, sitting on the floor with his back against the bathtub. Scott’s senses were assaulted by the smell of vomit, but he didn’t say anything. Stiles looked miserable; his complexion not quite to its normal color and eyes red from crying.

“Hey buddy”, he tried gently, sitting next to him.

“Hey”, he answered with a small, raspy voice.

“You feeling ok?”

“Better, I guess.”

Silence. Scott didn’t really know how to comfort him.

“So, a witch.”, he finally said.

“Mmh, no. I rather consider myself an atheist”, Stiles retorted with a sarcastic tone Scott knew all too well.

“What? Is being a witch a religion?”, he chuckled.

“It can be.”

“Did you do research already?”

“Nah, it’s just some stuff I know”, the man answered with a small smile.

“Nerd,” Scott couldn’t help retort.

“Yeah,” Stiles conceded.

They fell silent again, but it was less tense than before. Scott was making progress.

“You know this won’t change anything between us…”, he started.

“I know.”

“I still love you like my brother, I always will.”

“Yeah, I know”, he emphasized before realizing what Scott was doing. “Wait, are you pulling the ‘coming-out talk’ on me?”, he exclaimed in shock.

“I have to! You won’t admit it!” Scott defended himself.

“Oh my god, you can’t be serious…”

“I’m just saying, ready when you are”, Scott told him with a cheeky grin.

Stiles laughed, a real laugh, not a bitter one. There he is, thought the Alpha.

“Ok, whatever.”, the human conceded. “Asshole,” he added jokingly after.

Pause, again. Scott knew he would open up soon.

“Is it really worth it, though, if it means falling for the first redhead I meet?”, he almost whispered.

Scott wasn’t surprised, he had noticed right away. He also knew about his best friend’s bisexuality since high school, although they never openly talked about it.

“It’s okay to have a type,” he tried. As intended, this made Stiles laugh again, but he didn’t answer.

“Seriously though, it’s okay.”

“I know, it’s not…”, he didn’t finish his sentence.

Scott was confused again. He understood that discovering that you were “magical” – somehow – after 20 years of ignorance would come as a shock, but having a crush on a cute boy? It was not a matter to be sick about.

 _“_ Oh.”, he realized suddenly. _Ah, Stiles, you’ll never change, won’t you?_ For an overconfident smartass, he could really be an insecure mess, sometimes.

“Ok, do you allow me to go all Alpha on you right now?”, he asked him.

“Aren’t you always?”, Stiles said with a smirk.

“Maybe. But that’s not my point.”, he started, unsure of how to tackle the issue. “Listen, you trust my instinct, right?”

“Yes,” his best friend answered immediately.

“Ok. I know we just met the twins, but I can feel they are good people, and I know you can too. They are… Genuine. Yes, they tricked a few people on the way here, but it was for their own protection. And it’s not the same with us, with you… They wouldn’t jeopardize their whole survival plan by pretending to like somebody. At least, I don’t think that’s the type of people they are.”, he finished.

Stiles looked at him with shiny eyes. He felt like he got through to him. However, the human answered:

“I don’t know, Scott… Am I really this interesting? Or likeable, even? It took years for Lydia to like me, and I’m still convinced half of the pack only puts up with me because I’m your best friend.”

“Oh my god, dude, do you even hear yourself? You are a great person, you’re smart, you’re funny and… You honestly don’t need magic to get the attention of anybody. Even Lachlann’s. I swear.”, Scott said, putting all the love he had for his brother in his words.

“Thank you”, Stiles replied with a tight voice.

A tear rolled down his cheek. And another one, and another one. He buried his head in his knees, holding onto them like a lifeboat. He cried quietly while Scott was holding his shoulder and patting his back in support. He could smell his friend’s anxiety seeping out of his body onto the bathroom air; these were tears of relief. Scott knew how sensitive his friend could get when tired, and this had been a very emotional morning for everybody.

***

_POV Stiles_

When he finally felt like moving wouldn’t provoke him new stomach cramps, and talking wouldn’t make him sob like a baby again, Stiles lifted his head from his jeans. He dared a look at Scott, who was still by his side, and was met with his soft chocolate colored eyes, expressing only love and understanding. He gave him a small, thankful smile. He never cared about showing his weaknesses to his best friend, especially after all they went through together.

Scott could tell he was feeling better, so got up and offered him his hand. Stiles took it gladly, and was standing up on his painful, wobbly legs again in an instant. He went to the bathroom mirror. _Oh god, you look like crap,_ he told himself. He washed his hands and face in the sink, and stared at his reflection for an instant. _Ok buddy, you got this. You’re gonna go back to your friends, and act like you didn’t puke out of anxiety and cry for twenty minutes straight after that._

As if he could read his mind, his best friend said:

“It’s ok Stiles, they all get it.”

He knew he was right, but he still felt like a dumb cry baby at the moment.

“And sure, this is all new and scary for now but think about this: you’re gonna learn magic. You can… you can become the pack emissary.”, Scott said, looking excited for him, and proud.

It did cheer Stiles up a bit. Pack emissary. Learning magic. It was like having a dream he didn’t realize he ever had come true. He gave a true, happy smile to his best friend.

“Yeah. I’m gonna learn magic. Oh my-. It’s so weird to say this out loud.”, he snorted. “I’m gonna suck!”

Scott laughed out loud, probably agreeing secretly, before leading them out of the bathroom back to the terrace.

As soon as he went through the open glass door, Lexie leaped from her seat to pull him into a tight, warm hug.

“I’m sorry we weren’t more tactful. We’ll take things easy, okay?”, she said in their embrace.

“It’s okay Lexie, you did nothing wrong.”, he answered, wrapping his own arms around her back.

“You sure?”, she asked with her head tilted up towards him to look at his face. Didn’t realize she was so small before, he thought.

“Yes. No hard feelings, I promise.”, he reassured her. She beamed at him, flooding him with soft, loving (probably magical) vibes, and balancing herself on the tip of her toes, she planted a big kiss on his left cheek. Stiles went red in the face, but he didn’t feel flustered or embarrassed. He didn’t have that kind of feeling for the woman, he realized.

But Lachlann was different. Stiles shot a quick glance at the tall man who was staring worriedly at them. He must feel guilty, he thought. Gathering all the courage he could, he managed a small friendly smile, but he felt ridiculous doing so. _You’re too old to be too scared to look at your crush, Stiles. Do something!_

“Sorry I scared you guys,” he said to the group. “I’m fine. Just don’t make me drink this much ever again.”, he added, finally facing the redhead.

“Ahem,” Lexie said. “Well, we can’t promise anything. Derek offered us to stay in The Den as long as we need, and we all agreed to throw a party tomorrow night to celebrate Spring Break together before things get serious…”

“Oh, that’s really nice of you, Derek,” Stiles said to the werewolf with surprise.

“Least I can do. Although, I did not agree to the being party thrown _in_ here, so you’ll have to make do with the _unfinished_ backyard,” he informed.

“Ah, that’s the Sourwolf I know! Good call, by the way. Last time we thrown a party at his place, the loft was absolutely trashed afterwards.”, he said to the twins, who laughed back.

After that, the pack started to chat breezily again. Stiles sat back down on his seat next to Lydia to finish his breakfast. Emptying his stomach and crying his heart out made him incredibly hungry. The banshee next to him wrapped an arm around him comfortingly, before whispering to his ear: “He likes you too. I can tell”. Stiles wasn’t even a little shocked that she’d notice his childish pinning, but he didn’t believe one word she said. Determined to stay in a happy mood, he shrugged the comment off and got back to his buttery croissant. He knew she wouldn’t give up, though. He better be prepared.

Soon enough, the pack got back to the issue at hand: “Mission: Protect the Twins” (the name was Stiles’ idea, of course). After about an hour of strategic planning, it was decided that the were-canines of the pack would patrol both the Preserve and the town surroundings every night from now on, just in case. In addition, Lydia suggested that Scott called his dad to get any info that could tell them of where the murderous coven might be at the moment. Derek agreed to ask his contacts in neighboring packs if they knew anything that could help, and Stiles thought it was right to also update Deaton on the situation this very day.

But most importantly, the twins were adamant that Stiles should start training his magic with them as soon as he felt ready. Of course, the sooner the better, but the human couldn’t help feeling nervous. He still had a hard time grasping at the fact he was – technically – able to practice witchcraft.

That is when Lachlann suggested to conduct some kind of experiment. Apparently, it would prove him he had it in him and boost his confidence. Skeptical and all the more nervous, Stiles still agreed to join him in the Preserve that same evening, after sunset.

***

When Stiles got out of his dear Jeep (that Scott finally let him take for the rest of his time in town), the sun had been down for at least an hour.

Lachlann had asked him to come to The Den at 9, so when the pack meeting ended, he went straight to Deaton’s clinic to update him on the situation. The druid seemed glad to hear Stiles would finally make good use of his Spark, but wouldn’t explain why he never mentioned it again to him in all those years. Annoyed, Stiles went home (without the twins) to refresh a bit and take a well-deserved nap. When the evening came, he had dinner with his dad. He couldn’t bring himself to break The News to him, because it felt like he would have been lying. He decided to wait until after Lachlann’s “experiment”, although he still felt like nothing would happen.

He expected to find the twins waiting for him in the front yard of the mansion, but he only found the tall redhead sitting on the dirt floor, with a backpack by his side. He looked like he was… meditating?

“Hum, hi?”

“Hey Stiles, I was waiting for you”, he said in an enigmatic tone that Stiles guessed to be partly parodic, both because he kept his eyes shut while doing so, and because he had a small smile dancing on his lips.

“Yeah, so I guessed. You’re alone.”

“Yes. Lexie’s not a great teacher. Well, for what we’re doing tonight anyways.”, he explained, opening his eyes. “Tell me Stiles, do you trust me?”, he asked.

“I think so,” the human said slowly.

“That’ll do, I guess,” Lachlann chuckled. “Close your eyes.”

“Wh-?”

“Please.”

“Okay.”, he resigned.

“Thank you. Now, follow the sound of my voice”, he suddenly heard him whisper in his ear, almost jumping from the surprise. _How did he get so close so fast?_

“Wha-? How did you-?”

“I’m here, follow me”, Lachlann interrupted. He sounded like he moved to the edge of the woods, which made no sense, because Stiles didn’t hear him move, and it was too far away anyways.

“Can you teleport or something?”, he exclaimed, confused. He started to walk in the direction he thought the voice came from.

“I don’t know, what do you think?” This time, the voice came from behind him. It made no sense. Stiles turned around and extended his hand, but he was only met with emptiness where the witch _should_ have been.

“What the f-”

“You missed”, he heard behind him again. He turned around.

“I’m right here”, the voice said from around where the Jeep should have been parked.

Stiles had enough. He opened his eyes and looked around… only to find the redhead sitting where he’d found him upon arriving in the clearing, eyes shut and a relaxed but focused look on his face.

“But you-. I heard… How?”, he almost yelled, utterly confused.

“Astral projection.”, Lachlann’s voice whispered in his right ear, meanwhile Stiles was stunned to notice the witch’s mouth stay shut the whole time. “And you know what’s even more impressive? I’m tuned on a frequency only magical being have access to”, he hushed in his left ear.

“Wow. Ok.”, Stiles said, at a loss for other words.

This was definitely something, but it didn’t mean he could actually… do stuff. Right?

“Now,” the _real_ Lachlann said, getting up from the floor and picking up his bag in the process, “let’s see what _you_ are capable of.”

Although skeptical, Stiles curiosity got the best of him, and he followed the witch to the edge of the woods.

“You’re gonna be so disappointed,” he still felt like adding while they were slowly walking deeper and deeper in the dark forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it. Leave Kudos and a comment if you did! 
> 
> Chapter 5 should be up in a few days, so bookmark this if you can't wait for what comes next ;)


	5. The Experiment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while, and honestly this chapter has been ready for a while but I wanted to finish writing the next one before uploading it. It's my way of motivating myself to write lmao
> 
> Anyways, I hope you like this one. Enjoy!
> 
> Small disclaimer: It came to my attention when I was rewatching the show recently that although Scott & cie are supposed to be 2 years older than the Puppy Pack, Liam (& friends) begin senior year right when the McCall Pack leaves for college, which would mean that they are actually only 1 year apart. As always, the show makes no sense, but I've personally chosen for them to be 2 years apart because I prefer that.  
> This makes Scott & friends 2Oyo and Liam & friends 18yo, so we're clear.

**5\. The Experiment**

_POV Stiles_

They had been walking for about 10 minutes in almost complete darkness and Stiles was getting tired of tripping on roots and weeds. He knew these woods like the back of his hands, yet he couldn’t help feeling nervous. The tall witch in front of him, on the other hand, looked perfectly at ease in the ever-darkening Preserve. True to himself, Stiles couldn’t help but to fill the deafening silence:

“Can you see in the dark or something?”

“Something,” Lachlann answered enigmatically.

“Right, the thing is, I _can’t_ ”, he said. As if to prove his point, he suddenly hit a low tree branch with his shoulder in a loud thump. “Ouch!”

The redhead didn’t even turn around and simply chuckled under his breath: “Be careful, you’ll need your arms.”

“Why? Where are we going? And for what?”, he frantically asked, getting annoyed.

“Mmh”, Lachlann muttered, ignoring his questions. “I think this is the right spot.”

Stiles tried to look around him, but the “spot” looked exactly the same as the dozens of dozens of other trees, clump of dirt, dead leaves and twigs they’d passed before.

“Okaaay, if you say so.”, he accepted eventually.

He looked, puzzled, as Lachlann sat back on the floor and rummaged through his backpack. It looked like he was setting something up before him. Curious, Stiles finally joined him on the damp forest floor.

“I brought a few tools. They’re commonly used by beginners and non-born witches to cast simple spells. As you’re entirely unexperienced, I thought they could help.”, the man explained.

Stiles tried to identify the objects in front of him through the obscurity. It looked like Lachlann had put some kind of cloth down, and on top of it were a few gemstones, something that looked like a wooden wand, small jars filled with various herbs and powders, and a tiny bowl.

“Wow, could you be more cliché”, he said to the witch, imitating him from the previous night, in the dinner. Lachlann chuckled, his deep voice seemed to echo between the tree bark.

“I know what it looks like, but these are actually very useful tools, and among the most commonly used to practice witchcraft, as you may know”, he started to explain. “You might not need all of them, but it doesn’t matter.” He picked the wand from the floor.

“See this stick? Some would call it a wand, and say it had powers. But it’s not true. No object has any.” He put it down, and took one of the gems in his hand.

“But an object can be a vessel for _your_ power. A wood stick, a stone, a plant… It’s like a prism through which you can make your energy flow. You know how some say these kinds of gems can have magical effects on people and things? Well, it is true _only_ if you bestow your own force into them with a purpose. The results will vary depending of the stone, and the user. But a gem without the right energy is nothing but a pebble. In the end, you can cast any spell from any object, you just have to find what works for you. Do you understand?”

“I think so.”, Stiles answered. Although skeptical of his own capacities, he had to admit it was really interesting to learn about magic.

“Good. Now, before we start, I want you to try and empty your mind as much as you can by meditating. You might feel silly doing so, but this is a necessary step for you to open yourself to the energy flowing all around us. I chose this place specifically because the telluric currents flowing under the Preserve make it easier.”, the redhead instructed, getting in position himself.

“Do you mean we’re sitting on one of them at the moment?”, Stiles inquired while looking around him as if he could see it somehow.

“Exactly. For me, or any magically advanced being, energy can be found and accessed to pretty much everywhere. But as a beginner, you’re lucky to live in such a place where it flows in larger quantities. If you do as I say, you should be able to sense it pretty easily, and ignite your Spark.”, he concluded excitedly.

He looked so hopeful that Stiles wanted to try as hard as he could to succeed, just so he wouldn’t disappoint the witch. He proceeded to place himself in the same position as him, sitting cross-legged with his hands on his knees, palms up.

“Ok, let’s start. Close your eyes, and try not to think about anything. Focus on what’s surrounding us. The trees, the ground, the sound of the air in the leaves, the cold… Anything that grounds you to this very place.”, Lachlann said in a whisper.

Lulled by his deep, relaxing voice, Stiles closed his eyes and tried to do as instructed. He thought about the dampness going through his pants, making his butt wet and cold. He felt a gush of cool air sweep against the nape of his neck, making him shiver. _I should have brought a sweater_. Somewhere far away, a twig snapped and he jumped, although it was probably just harmless wildlife passing by. Then his left cheek started to itch, and he couldn’t think of anything else.

“Oh my god, stop fidgeting around”, Lachlann exclaimed with irritation.

“Dude, I’ve got ADHD, I literally can’t.”, he retorted immediately. “I’m sorry, but I’m cold and my body gets itchy when I stay still for too long.”, he tried to explain.

“Fine”, Lachlann conceded. They had opened their eyes, and Stiles saw the redhead pull his own sweater over his head and give it to him.

“Put this on.”

Stiles hesitated.

“Come on, don’t worry about me! I run hot”, he said with a smirk.

Stiles was also running hot, suddenly, but he didn’t say anything and abdicated. When he put the sweater on, he was overwhelmed by the smell of flowery fabric softener and light perfume. He felt his cheek get red and hot, but hoped the dimness would dissimulate it from the man sitting in front of him.

“We’ll try something else”, Lachlann said while getting closer to him. Stiles almost backed up as a reflex, but the witch stopped him: “Take my hands.”

“What?”, he choked on his words, getting even redder (if it was possible).

“Come on,” Lachlann urged him. “If you can’t focus by yourself, it’ll help. Trust me”, he said, wiggling his fingers in front of Stiles.

After another second of hesitation, the brown-haired man placed his own hands on top of the witch’s. This felt really intimate, all of a sudden. Stiles was unsure this would really help him focus on anything but the soft skin under his, or his own crazy beating heart. _Witches can’t listen at you pulse, can’t they?_

“Let’s try again, ok?”, Lachlann said.

“Ok,” Stiles answered with a small voice.

They closed their eyes again. Being focused on how flustered he felt holding the witch’s hands did help Stiles, in some weird ways. It was like Lachlann’s tranquility was seeping inside him through their contact.

After a couple of minutes, Stiles was stunted to notice he was perfectly relaxed. He could feel the cool air around him, but he wasn’t cold. He could hear the wind in the tree’s top, like a lullaby. He felt the ground under him, strong but soft at the same time. It was like being part of a whole, like his self was aligned with the forest’s light buzzing. Then he realized.

He didn’t feel this buzzing before, did he? It was like discovering a whole new sense he wasn’t aware he possessed, one he never used before. Could it be…?

“Good. You’re doing really good. Can you feel it?”, Lachlann voice rang in his mind.

“Yes, I think I can”, he answered without opening his mouth.

“Focus on it.”

So he did. He put his whole attention on the warm sensation. Then, something opened inside of himself and the buzzing amplified. This time, he couldn’t tell if it was coming from the dirt floor, or the trees, or the rocks, or the air. He felt as if he was swept up from the ground, like he suddenly connected to a force larger than himself, like… strong energy was going right through him.

“Wow, Stiles”, breathed the witch in front of him. “You got it. Your Spark… It’s so great, so radiant,” he exclaimed with his real voice.

The sound pulled Stiles out of his meditative state. He opened his eyes and was met with Lachlann’s awe-struck expression and shiny eyes. He realized he was almost out of breath, as if he had stopped breathing at some point. It felt like waking up from a dream, but it was real, _wasn’t it?_

“Uh-”, he tried to speak, panting. “Did I-? Was it-?”, he muttered, at a loss for words.

“Yes, you did it. Feels great, doesn’t it?”, the redhead asked, a wide smile on his face.

“Yeah,” he said, suddenly aware of his hands still gripping at the redhead’s. He broke their contact, and looked at his palms like they detained the secret to his fabulous magical high. “It’s like my whole body is buzzing with… With _energy_.”

“Yes. Yes! You connected. You opened the way. I told you you had it in you.”

Stiles looked in the man’s eyes in amazement, he was in complete shock after his short mystic trip.

“I never thought… I would have never knew if it wasn’t for you.”, he whispered.

“And this is just the start. I still need you to try something else, now that your tuned in to your inner power.”

“Yes. Yes, ok,” he agreed eagerly, getting excited about the idea of doing _more_.

He could tell Lachlann was proud of him and it warmed his heart. The man backed up a little and picked the wooden wand again.

“There’s a very simple spell we make beginners perform.”, the witch started to explain. “We usually use it to determine one’s power; that is how much energy you’re able to wield.”

“Is it dangerous?”, Stiles asked with excitement. “Oh, does it have a cool name, like ‘Wingardium Leviosa’?”, he couldn’t help adding.

“No,” Lachlann laughed. “Sorry to disappoint. We just call it a ‘light spell’, because that’s what it is.”

“Light, as in ‘a lamp’s light’?”

The redhead nodded.

“Lame. However, we should definitely rename it ‘Lumos’, like in-”

“Like in Harry Potter, I know. And: no, we’re not renaming it anything, especially not ‘Lumos’ because Harry Potter is bullshit. Now focus,” Lachlann scolded him gently.

Stiles shut his mouth before he could start to argue.

“Now, I’m pretty sure you have great potential in magic, but this is customary to start practicing with tools, so take this”, he said while handing the wand to Stiles. Although skeptical, he remembered the witch’s explanations about objects being vessels, so he did as told.

“I want you to focus really hard on the energy flowing through you, like we did before, but this time, try to canalize it. Then, when you feel like you’ve got a good grasp at it, use the wand as a vessel, and think about creating light.” Seeing Stiles was about to interrupt, he added. “I know this all sounds very unclear when explained this way, but I truly cannot do better. That’s all there is to it: focus on the energy, canalize it into the vessel, create light with your mind.”

“Right,” Stiles commented, looking at the twig in his hand. “Ok, I guess it can’t hurt to try.”

The young man closed his eyes again. To his surprise, it took him only a few seconds to be able to feel the nice buzzing sensation again. It felt like it was part of himself now. He let the feeling grow deep inside him, and when it felt right, he opened his eyes and concentrated all his will into the wand in his hand. It felt like the wood got warm is his grasp all of a sudden. _Is this actually working?_ Galvanized by this result, Stiles tried to conjure light, but nothing happened. He tried again, harder. _Make light, you dumbass_. Nothing again. The wand starting to feel hotter and hotter, but nothing more was happening. This was getting frustrating. Instead of lighting up, it looked like the space between the two men was getting darker and darker.

“Come on, you’re almost there,” he heard Lachlann encourage him.

That’s all it took for the frustrated human. All of a sudden, a large ball of light appeared at the tip of the wooden stick. Its warm hues beamed brightly at the two friend’s face, lighting the trees around them like a tiny sun. It looked like it was growing bigger and bigger by the second, but the wand in Stiles hand was getting too hot to hold. After another instant spent admiring the shiny orb in wonder, the human finally dropped the flaming hot wand back on the cloth, thus immersing the duo back in darkness. The stick sizzled on the cold floor, tiny puffs of smoke coming out of it.

“Wow.”, was all Stiles managed to utter. He felt a rush of emotions assault him, and tears started to fill his eyes. Confused, he glanced at Lachlann. The witch had a baffled expression on his face, but when he noticed Stiles’ disoriented look, he immediately said:

“It’s okay to cry, happened to me the first time as well.”

“What?”, Stiles sniffled. “But you’ve always done magic, right?”

“Yeah, I don’t actually remember my first time. But I know I was a really annoying baby, cried pretty much all the time.”, the redhead joked.

This made Stiles laugh and he instantly felt better. He wiped the trails of tears from his cheeks while giving a small thankful smile to the witch in front of him.

“Seriously though, this was incredible. I’ve never heard of beginners doing so well the first time.”, the witch said with proudness in his voice.

“Really? Uh, it’s the first time I’m good at doing anything for the first time, I think.”, the brown-haired man answered. “Tell me, is it always this painful? I almost burned myself there.”, he added while gazing at his red palm.

“Here”, Lachlann said while taking his injured hand. He ran his long fingers over the burnt area while muttering incomprehensible words under his breath. “I applied a pain reducing spell, it should help you heal quicker, too.”

Stiles looked, amazed, as the reddish skin slowly turned back to a more normal shade. It prickled a bit, he noticed.

“Thanks,” he said to the redhead.

“And, to answer your question, it shouldn’t hurt at all next time, because you’re done with practicing with objects. You clearly don’t need them, _at all_. Well not for now at least. I’ve rarely seen this much energy go through anybody with your experience before. As I said, you have great potential, Stiles.”, he emphasized. “You’re only gonna progress more and more form now on, I’m sure. You’ve found your _thing_ , congratulations.”, he finished, beaming.

“And I thought my _things_ were detective work and being an underappreciated genius.”, Stiles retorted. He still felt really proud of himself.

“You can have several _things_.”, Lachlann said with a shrug.

They fell silent, both taking a second to process the recent events. But Stiles just had so many more questions now, he started to get restless again.

“Hey, what do you think my specialty is? Hang on, what is yours? Oh and what will you teach me next? Are there dangerous spells? Oh I bet there are, I can’t wait. Also, should I practice at home? Do I have homework?”, he asked frantically, excited for homework for the first time in his life, ever.

“Slow down, greenie. For now, you need to rest, magic is draining. Let’s go back.”, he said while packing his stuff back in his bag, discarding the burned down wand on the forest floor.

They both got back up and started to walk in the same direction they came from. They walked in contemplative silence, until they were back next to Stiles’ Jeep. When Stiles was about to say goodbye to the tall witch, he suddenly exclaimed:

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

Stiles was taken aback by his sudden hesitant tone, he who always seemed so confident.

“Yeah, go ahead”, he allowed.

“Do you… Do you know if your mom could have been magical?”, the redhead finally inquired.

The brown-haired was stunt by the question. He didn’t know what he expected, but it was definitely not this. _Why would he-? My mom?_ _No, she couldn’t have been…_

“Listen, I don’t want you worrying about things you’re clearly unaware of, but the power you detain… I was just thinking… it has to come from somewhere, you know? So maybe, just _maybe_ …”, he trailed off.

Stiles was suddenly overwhelmed. He didn’t want to get his hopes high, _but what if?_ He wasn’t sure it was something he was ready to know about, but somehow, the idea of it filled his heart with warmth. It could be something… Something that brought himself closer to her, in a way.

“I, huh,” he tried to say around the lump forming in his throat. “Ahem, I don’t know. I’ll talk to my dad. I guess.”, he finally answered.

Lachlann nodded, and gave him a small, understanding smile.

“Ok. Yeah, that’s a good idea.”, he answered. “Oh, before you go! Here,” he added while getting his phone out of his pocket. “Would you mind giving me your number? For future lessons.”

Stiles’ face burned red again. His heart missed a few beats thinking about future magic lessons with the gorgeous redhead.

“Sure”, he stuttered while taking the witch’s phone from his hand.

He added his number to his contacts’ list, but hesitated before hitting “Done”. Quickly, he deleted his first name and replaced it with “Greenie” before handing the smartphone back. Lachlann looked at it and chuckled.

“Perfect. Thanks.”, he said. “So, huh, see you later?”

“Yeah. Goodnight, Lachlann.”, Stiles replied before climbing into his Jeep. He watched as the witch waved his hand at him before turning around to walk back towards the mansion.

Stiles only realized once at home that he was still wearing Lachlann’s sweater. Upon removing it, he couldn’t help but to take another whiff at the soft fabric, taking the witch’s smell in fully. He felt like a pervert doing so, though. Eventually, he left the piece of clothing on the back of his chair, to remind himself of bringing it back next time he’d see him.

_What a strange evening, huh?_

***

Stiles did not sleep well that night. His slumber was polluted with enigmatic dreams about his mom being a witch, and he had nightmares about his time possessed by the Nogitsune. He woke up several times, sweating profusely and counting his fingers frantically to make sure he was not stuck in one of those hyper-realistic dreams again. Apparently, being “tuned in to his inner power” brought bad memories to his subconscious. Getting out of bed, he made a mental note to talk to Deaton about it later.

When he checked his phone, he was met with even more reasons to worry. Scott had got news back from his father who worked at the FBI, and it did not look good. Apparently, the evil coven might have been getting closer than what the twins had predicted. The Alpha called for a meeting at The Den during the afternoon to update everybody and assess the gravity of the situation together.

Stiles got down to the kitchen to brew himself a litter or two of strong coffee, and he was surprised to find his dad taking his breakfast. He remembered his conversation with Lachlann from the previous night, and he thought he better get to “The Talk” as soon as possible, so he wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore.

He took a large gulp of air – for courage – and exclaimed:

“Hey dad, I thought you would be at work. Can I talk to you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading me, I hope yuo liked it; If you did, I'd be eternally grateful of you for leaving a Kudo or a comment. <3
> 
> See you soon!


	6. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! As promised, chapter 6 is finally here! It's been ready for a few days now, as well as chapter 7 (but I wont publish it as long as I haven't written chapter 8, as always).
> 
> Small disclaimer here: unlike the previous ones, this one hasn't been reviewed by anybody except myself (my friends didn't have time), so there might be small mistakes or weirdly phrased sentences here and there. I hope you don't mind! 
> 
> Small disclaimer n°2: It came to my attention when I was rewatching the show recently that although Scott & cie are supposed to be 2 years older than the Puppy Pack, Liam (& friends) begin senior year right when the McCall Pack leaves for college, which would mean that they are actually only 1 year apart. As always, the show makes no sense, but I've personally chosen for them to be 2 years apart because I prefer that.  
> This makes Scott & friends 2Oyo and Liam & friends 18yo, so we're clear.
> 
> Enjoy your reading :)

**6\. Revelations**

_POV Stiles_

“Hey son.”, the Sheriff answered while pulling Stiles into a quick “good morning” hug. “I was supposed to be at work but I went home late last night. Huge accident on the 16th, I was there until 3am, so I allowed myself to sleep in a bit.”

“Oh, ok. Nothing supernatural, huh?”, Stiles asked.

“Nah, just a very stupid drunk driver.”

“Thank god”, he said. He looked at his dad’s disapproving expression, and felt like he should add: “I mean… I hope nobody died?”

“Right.”, his father chuckled.

Stiles sat down by his side with a mug filled with coffee and a plate of eggs.

“You wanted to talk to me? Does it have anything to do with you having nightmares again?”, the Sheriff asked after a minute.

“How did you-?”

“I heard you shuffling and whimpering in your bed when I got home. You stopped after a few seconds so I let you be, I didn’t want to disturb you…”, he explained awkwardly. He was probably remembering that time in high school when he would have to comfort his son almost every night for weeks because he was having terrible nightmares, both before and after he was possessed.

“It’s okay dad. Well, I slept terribly,” he answered before gulping down half of his coffee, “but it wasn’t as bad as it used to be.”

His dad still put a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder. Stiles forced himself to continue:

“But yeah, I guess it kinda has something to do with… what I want to talk to you about.”, he mumbled hesitantly.

The Sherriff looked at him quizzically but didn’t press him. He knew Stiles would talk when ready.

“So, ahem. Do you know…”, he stopped, having a hard time getting the words out, sighed and resumed, “do you know if, by any chance, mom… could have been… magical?”

He almost felt like hiding behind his hands having asked that. _This is so stupid, oh my god how could it even be a possibility?_ He watched as his dad’s face went from surprise, to sadness, to confusion, and then to… shame?

“Oh.”, he simply said, at first. “Ahem. I didn’t think you would ever… Why this question now, Stiles?”, he finally answered, surprising the brown-haired man.

“Eeeer, long story. Remember the twins? Well, as you know, they are witches. And, huh, yesterday during the meeting at The Den, they… they told me _I_ was magical.” He looked at his dad’s face going back to surprised confusion. “Yeah, I know, crazy. They told me about my Spark, how I didn’t notice it… I didn’t believe it either. That is until Lachlann brought me in the Preserve for an experiment last evening and… and turns out I actually _am_ magical! Like, I performed actual magic!”, he was getting excited finally telling somebody about it, but he could tell his dad was worried.

He stopped talking, waiting tensely for another reaction from his father.

“Wow.”, he said. “I-, huh…”

He looked taken aback but not completely baffled by the news. _Weird_.

“I should have seen it coming.”, he finally muttered in his beard.

“What? Why?”, Stiles exclaimed.

He was starting to believe… Maybe Lachlann was right after all. _No, it can’t be…_

“I’m sorry I never told you. It just… I didn’t use to believe in all this. You know, when your mom was still…”, he trailed of. He looked upset, and Stiles felt his throat get tight. His dad was always so emotional mentioning his late wife.

“Claudia… She believed in magic. She used to say she could do things… She didn’t know what it was but she believed in it. I never mentioned it to you, even after I learned about the supernatural, because I didn’t know if it was even real, you know? It could have been nothing. It could have just been odd superstitions and beliefs.”, he said with watery eyes. “But now… Now that I know that you too… Maybe it _was_ real?”, he finished, looking at his son in awe.

Stiles could also feel his eyes getting watery. He was getting around the idea that his mom was, as Lachlann believed, magical. Probably. And his own powers came from her. He didn’t know what to say. His dad spoke again:

“I hope you’re not mad at me, son. I really didn’t think it was anything.”

“No dad, no, absolutely not. I’m not mad I’m… Happy?”, he answered with a small smile.

His dad smiled back at him and wiped his tears away.

“Me, too. Knowing that you’re like her… It’s like she left a piece of her inside of you for us to find, one day. A legacy.”, his dad said with emotion in his voice. And proudness.

This echoed warmly in Stiles, who remembered thinking something similar the day before. His dad thought the same as him. He couldn’t help taking him in his arms, his dad reciprocating immediately. They stayed in each other’s embrace for a few seconds, both filled with love for each other. After they parted, Stiles wiped his eyes with his sweater’s sleeve, sniffing loudly.

“Huh, I still can’t believe it. You know, Lachlann said I was very powerful for a beginner. I haven’t done much yet but I’m gonna learn more. The twins want me to help them set up a protective ward so that their murderous family can’t find them here and-”

“Murderous family?”, the Sheriff cut him. “A protective ward? Wh-? You know what, I have to go to work. But fill me in later ok?”, he said while getting up from the kitchen stool.

“Right, yeah, I’ll stop by the station sometime today,” Stiles answered. Before his dad left the kitchen, he added: “Hey dad, thank you. I love you.”

The Sheriff gave him a soft smile.

“I love you, too, son. See you later, okay?”

Stiles nodded and went back to his breakfast, thinking back to their conversation. He felt the warm feeling in his chest again. Suddenly, he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He checked it and realized he just received a text from Lachlann. It read: “Hey greenie! Hope you had a good night sleep cause we’re training this afternoon. Be at The Den at 3. Also, don’t forget the sweater 😉”

The brown-haired man got butterfly in his stomach while reading the text (14 times). He fiddled with the device in his hands for a few seconds before typing his answer… and deleting it. He typed again, hesitated, corrected a few things, and finally decided of a simple, straightforward reply, feeling like he was betraying himself in the process. But he didn’t want to be too much, annoying, clingy or any other adjectives he was called in his few attempts at dating during the past months.

At least, he realized, he would be spending some time alone with Lachlann during the afternoon. The thought both terrified him and filled him with joy. But first, he had to see Deaton and ask him about the nightmares. He couldn’t let his past fears ruin his chance to help the twins. Not now that he knew there was something big inside of him that could do some good to people. Determined, he finished eating and went back to his room to get ready to go out.

***

Unsurprisingly, the small meeting with Deaton wasn’t as helpful has Stiles would have wanted. The druid didn’t have a straightforward answer or solution to his problem, but he did concede that the nightmares were probably caused by magic being back in his “system”, stirring up bad memories in his subconscious. It was all a matter of trauma, and healing it, he said. But it wasn’t like Stiles could simply go to a psychiatrist and tell him about his demonic possession and the numerous other PTSD inducing events which had taken place during his high school years. He would have to deal with it himself.

He hadn’t made it back home when Scott texted the pack about the evening’s meeting and the Spring Break party following. He asked the whole pack to be at The Den by 5, and to come with things to eat and drink. The Banshee informed them that she would be taking care of installations and decoration – typical Lydia. Stiles wasn’t a planner nor a cook, so he simply stopped by a supermarket to get some soft drinks and snacks, hoping the twins would supply the alcohol. He resisted the urge to text Lachlann about it, although he had no idea how the twins could go to town from the Preserve. Maybe Derek was helping?

By 11, he was done with his shopping and thought it would be nice to invite his dad to lunch. Maybe they could talk further about the morning’s revelations. Also, Stiles still had to explain to him why the twins were in town. He realized his dad could probably help with securing them, as well. He gave him a call, and they agreed to meet up at a dinner near the station in one or two hours (depending on when the sheriff would be available).

Back at home, Stiles couldn’t restrain himself further and jumped on his computer to conduct researches on magic. He had been at it for god knows how long when he noticed he had 7 unread texts from his dad. It was 12:43 and the first text, received at 12:13 said his dad was leaving the station in 2 minutes. He was _late_. He quickly packed his stuff and left home running.

***

“And then, I came upon a very interesting article about voodoo. I knew the basics but I learned so much more! Did you know that zombies were real?! Not like people coming back from the dead, but the houngans and mambos – which is how you call men and women who practice voodoo – they prepare some herb mixture and give it to somebody, and this person falls into a deep coma, so their family think they’re dead and bury them. But them, the priest or priestess – yes you can also call them that – comes back to dig up the “body” and wake up the “dead” person, and they give them some brew that keeps them in sort of a trance state that makes them docile, and they use them as their slaves! Crazy right?”, rambled Stiles while gorging on twisted fries and a chicken burger, sauce spread all around his mouth. He had been going on about his researches for fifteen minutes, at least.

“What does it even has to do with magic? They use herbs right, not spells?”, his father asked confusedly.

“Well… Yeah I may have gotten sidetracked a few times. But I found this YouTube channel about Wicca. It’s a pagan religion, you see, but some believers are also witches. Most are probably not really magical, I’m guessing… But some might be! And Wicca is really popular here in the US – and in the rest of the world -, so think about how many real witches are out there? And Wicca is all about doing good, and using the power of nature and all… So like, there might be a ton of people everywhere doing small changes for the better, right? This stuff is just fascinating!”, he rambled again.

To his surprise, his dad seemed actually interested in what he was saying.

“Do you think that’s what your mom could have been doing? Without knowing?”, he asked.

Stiles smiled softly at his dad.

“Yeah, maybe.”, he said with hope.

They went on with their lunch, talking further about Stiles discoveries concerning magic and the possibility of Claudia being magical. The young man also tried to summarize the best he could the twins’ situation, with the Catsies coven that also happened to be their family being after them and all. The Sheriff expressed his worries about the feud bringing danger and chaos in Beacon Hills – which was honestly a very big possibility – but Stiles tried to convince him that the protective ward would be up before this happened. His dad also suggested to conduct his own researches on the murderous family, to see if there was a possibility of finding them in the system and taking legal action in some way. He wanted to help in the limit of his skills.

Another hour later, the Sheriff realized he was getting late for work and left the restaurant in haste; Stiles just had time to tell him he probably wouldn’t come home that night before his dad was out. Similarly, he barely had time to go back home to pack the groceries he bought for the party before going out again. He almost forgot the sweater in his eagerness, but ran back home last minute to pick it up before finally taking the way to the Preserve.

***

He had arrived at the pack HQ a few minutes after 3, and wasn’t surprised to see Lydia’s car already in the driveway. Inside, she was cooking, mixing cocktails and unpacking miles and miles of fairy lights, it seemed. Lachlann was outside, in the unfinished back garden, moving outdoor furniture and making sure they had everything they needed for the barbecue.

When Lachlann spotted him through the open French doors, his whole face lit up, which brought a small incredulous smile on Stiles’ face while he was making his way through the house to greet Lydia and leave his groceries on the kitchen counter. But when the redhead entered the kitchen, his cheerful expression fell off his face. He almost rushed to Stiles’ side.

“Hey, are you okay?”

He looked worried, which confused Stiles. Could Lachlann read minds? Was it his specialty?

“Huh, yeah, I’m fine.”, he answered. It wasn’t a lie, despite his night not being great and his talk with his dad, he _was_ fine.

“You sure? You look exhausted. And upset.”, Lachlann insisted.

“Well, I haven’t slept really well, and I talked to my dad, but huh, I’m okay? I think?”

Stiles was starting to doubt himself, it was like Lachlann’s worry was seeping through to him.

“Ooooh, that’s it. Okay, no training for today, but you have to tell me what’s going on. Come on, let’s go upstairs.”, the redhead said before walking swiftly to the stairs.

“Sure”, Stiles complied. He was right, he did have a lot to tell him.

They sat facing each other in the cozy armchairs of the small library. The room was warm and inviting, glowing with yellow light flooding in through the thin veil-like curtains hanging in front of the large French doors leading to the roof terrace.

“There are bad energies floating all around you, Stiles. Are you sure you’re alright?”, Lachlann inquired again.

Stiles figured they must have been a result of his nightmares, and he resorted to tell everything he could about his former possession and the trauma it left in him to the tall witch. Lachlann listened religiously to his story before sighing:

“Yeah, this was predictable. As Deaton’s told you, your system’s only previous knowledge of magic was this very negative one. You know, I told you about energy, but what I didn’t mention was that it is usually neutral, until tempered with. In “white” magic, it’s usually charged positively, but in your case, with this demon, the Nogitsune, the energy left behind could only be dark, dangerous.”

Stiles was starting to feel nervous. What if his former possession prevented him from ever performing magic without it having terrible consequences? As if answering his deepest fear, Lachlann resumed:

“But this negative energy can be replaced by positive one. _You_ can replace it. Working on your trauma will definitely help, but more importantly, you need to practice until you get a complete control of the energies flowing in you. Remember the meditation from last night? It helped you open up to the pure power coursing through the Preserve. If you do this enough, you should manage to only allow neutral or positive energies to go inside you, therefore annihilating any leftover traces of that demon. And I’ll be here to help, I promise.”, he said in a reassuring tone, looking Stiles straight in the eyes.

The young man couldn’t help but trust him fully. He suddenly was hopeful, and looking forward getting rid of his past pains and struggles thanks to magic.

“Okay. Thank you”, he answered with a soft smile.

Now, he was only worried he’d fail to control the new forces he was made aware of in time, thus failing to help his new friends before it was too late. But he had to put his doubts aside for now, because he still had to tell Lachlann about the revelations he made this very morning.

“Let’s stop talking about my nightmares. As I told you, I talked with my dad”, he started to explain, his tone getting excited. Lachlann’s face lit up with his, he looked impatient to know what Stiles had discovered.

“I asked him about the possibility of my mom being magical, and, huh, although we can’t be sure because, well, she’s not here to tell us and also she didn’t seem to really know what she as doing at the time… My dad said she believed in magic. She thought she could do stuff. Small, positive changes around her.”, he concluded, still unsure if he believed it himself.

“I knew it!”, Lachlann exclaimed, beaming. “This is not unheard of, you know, magical people being unaware of their power. Well, it seemed your mother knew about it, but she was likely never trained. She might have had ancestors being witches without her knowing about it. That’s wonderful!”

“Is it?”, Stiles asked, confused.

“Come on, I know you’re super excited about it all. It’s your legacy, Stiles.”, Lachlann answered, echoing Stiles and his father’s thoughts. The brown-haired was starting to get emotional, _again_.

“It is. I know. It’s just so new and unexpected… I wish I had a way of knowing for sure about my mom. But her parents died when I wasn’t even born yet, and all I know of them is that her father was a Polish immigrant and I was named after him.”, he said sadly.

“Stiles?”

“Nah, this is just a nickname I borrowed from my other grandfather. And”, he marked a pause, suddenly thinking it could be fun to mess with the redhead a bit, “I’m not telling you my real name.”

Lachlann chuckled, and then started to laugh under his breath, like a parody of an evil witch.

“I’ll find out on my own what ugly or ridiculous name you’ve been given”, he teased with a malicious smirk.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few seconds. Stiles mood had lighten up drastically upon spending only a few moments alone with the ginger man, which was very telling of how he felt for him. He had butterflies in his stomach and heat in his cheeks when Lachlann made eye contact with him again, saying nothing, just smiling enigmatically. Before Stiles could ask him what he was smiling about, Lachlann’s head turned quickly to a side and he said:

“Lexie and Derek are back!”

“Wh-? Do you have super hearing like werewolves? Is it a catsy thing?”, Stiles asked confusedly. To be honest, he hadn’t even realize Lexie wasn’t home, his attention solely focused on her twin brother.

“No, it’s more like I can feel her presence.”, the witch answered, getting up from his armchair.

Stiles followed, his curiosity piqued.

“Okay, but is it a witch thing or a twin thing then?”, he asked while getting down the stairs behind Lachlann.

“I’d say it’s a bit of both.”

They were down the stairs and facing the front door right in time for Derek and Lexie to open it, laughing ( _what?_ ) and chatting ( _again, what?_ ) while carrying bags of grocery shopping, amidst which Stiles recognized paper bags from a local liquor shop. A lot of them. This is gonna be a fun night, he thought.

“Hey guys! Oh, Stiles!”, she exclaimed excitedly after spotting him. She almost dropped all her bags on the floor by launching herself at him. The bottles of alcohol only survived thanks to Derek’s werewolves reflexes. After giving a bone crushing hug to the witch apprentice, she started babbling in excitement:

“I’m so happy for you! Lachlann told me about yesterday. I can’t wait to see you perform magic, I’m sure you’ll do so freaking great. Oh, did you talk to your dad? Never mind, this calls for celebration, and we bought a ton of booze!”

Stiles was suddenly overwhelmed. He didn’t even tell the pack about his discoveries from the night before, and we wasn’t sure he was ready to unpack the whole “my mom might have been magical” and “I’m having nightmares about my possession again” stuff yet. Thankfully, Lachlann came to his rescue:

“Let him breathe, Lex. I’ll tell you all about it later, ok? If you don’t mind,” he finished, looking at Stiles.

“Of course”, he answered. He greeted Derek and went to help him with the grocery bags.

Soon, the whole group was at work in the kitchen, putting away snacks and brewing punch while chatting casually together. Lexie hadn’t lie, they did buy a ton of alcohol.

“Hey Lexie, I thought you were broke. How did you buy all this?”, he asked. Before she could answer, his hyperactive mind went to the most probable answer. “Don’t tell me you charmed Derek into buying you more than a hundred dollars of booze. Oh my god, did you give him a hea-”

“Shut up, Stiles!”, Derek was heard shouting from the back of the house before he could finish his sentence, making everybody laugh. When she was done laughing her head off, Lexie finally answered:

“I might have use my feminine and/or magical charms on a few clerks to get a small discount here and there, what’s so wrong about it?”, she said while taking a seductive pose and batting her eyelashes.

Lachlann sigh in exasperation, but didn’t even try to scold his sister. It looked like they had this talk often, and Lexie was a stubborn girl anyways. The group continued their party planning until it was time for the pack meeting.

***

The mood in the Den quickly shifted after the rest of the Pack arrived for the meeting. The news weren’t terrible, but they weren’t great either. When Stiles revealed to everybody his newfound magical abilities, he didn’t feel like he was offering much of a solution, but that was the only hope the Pack and the twins could hold on to at the moment, so they did.

After the meeting was done around 7, Stiles was in desperate need of dinner and a drink, and he guessed the same about the rest of his friends, given their somber faces. Soon, Lydia sprang into action and invited everybody to gather outside and “get this Spring Break Party started”.

Apparently, Scott and Malia had managed to convince Derek to give them a bottle or two of his spiked liquor, because Stiles could see the grinning werecoyote pouring the clear liquid from an unlabeled glass bottle into one of the large bowls of punch sitting on a table outside. Stiles made a mental note not to drink from this bowl, he had gone through wolfsbane poisoning before and it was _not fun._ Of course, Lydia being organized and smart as always, she taped a nice “no humans” sign (she drawn herself) on the side of the recipient a minute later. This would look so weird to any outsider, Stiles thought.

As for the Sourwolf who was surprisingly nice enough to lend his precious mansion’s backyard to a dozen of barely functioning young adults for the night, he was giving the last bits of his 35 lines long list of strict instructions to Scott, who was still acting like he was a responsible Alpha at this point in time. Derek left soon after, giving a last worried look to the house, almost as if he was saying goodbye forever, which made Stiles chuckle.

He went to help Scott with the barbecue, but his path was cut by an ever-beaming large brunette who was holding two red plastic cups in her hands. _Ah shit, here we go again_.

“Oh come on, don’t make this face, we’re celebrating the first time you did magic!”, she defended herself after seeing the distressed look his face. “Also, it’s just beer.”

“Just beer, huh?”, he said sarcastically, remembering the drunk debacle that happened just one night before. Lexie flashed her typical fake innocent smile, and Stiles just couldn’t resist her good mood and fun personality. He did feel like celebrating and drinking beers anyways, it’s just that with this girl, you never knew how far things would go.

By the time Lydia had cooked enough pizza and Scott enough meat to feed the Pack of hungry were-creatures and humans alike, the sky was getting dark outside, and Stiles was sipping on his third beer with a burger in his other hand while chatting with Scott and the twins. The rest of their friends were gathered around the tables filled with snacks and drinks, all enjoying the start of the night.

All of a sudden, the fairy lights Lydia had tangled around the metal structure up outside (it would transform into a veranda soon) all lit up, creating a beautiful artificial starlit sky above all the guests heads, basking them into warm light. Stiles’ gaze lingered on Lachlann’s profile for a minute, watching as the light hues made his hair look like blazing fire, and his eyes glow like crystal. Just a moment later, some music started to blast out of the speakers Mason and Corey had set up around the place, which forced him to look away. Of course, Lydia had to make a big entrance, he thought while watching her stepping outside with a drink in hand before exclaiming cheerfully:

“And that’s when the party really starts, people!”

The Pack cheered with her and everybody drank. _This is gonna be a fun night for sure._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Not to tease, but the next one is really fun, so if you don't want to miss it, don't forget to Bookmarm my fanfic! 
> 
> As always, leave a Kudo or a comment if you liked it, I really appreciate feedback. 
> 
> See you soon!


	7. Party Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! 
> 
> So sorry for the delayed update, I've been having a lot of issues wirting for a few weeks due mainly to shitty mental health and also writer's block. I'm honestly kinda unmotivated to continue writing this story, as I feel like I'm not that good as a writer and I feel like I only have bad ideas for a plot. I might be wrong, and some people probably expect a lot from this fic but I don't know if I can give them what they wish. 
> 
> I'm not done writing the next chapter, but this one has been ready for a while now and I thought that maybe my motivation and inspiration would come back after I hear from my readers!

**7\. Party Time**

_POV Scott_

Scott was flipping burgers on the barbecue while chatting with Stiles and the twins, drinking his spiked punch from time to time, when the lights turned on and music started blasting from the nearby speakers. He felt good about this party, and he couldn’t have been happier to be around his best friends before trouble reached them. He was about to throw a few more meat patties on the grill when Liam interrupted him:

“Hey, Scott, can I talk to you for a minute?”

The Beta’s tangy nervousness seeping through his skin was all the more noticeable above the mixed smells of food, drinks and the forest surrounding them. It got Scott worried, and he agreed to go inside with him to talk privately.

“Is everything okay?”, he asked Liam once in the living room.

“Yeah, definitely.”, he answered a bit too quickly. A few seconds passed, and he almost looked like he wasn’t going to talk again, before he did. “Huh. Remember when I told you a few months ago that Theo and I kinda… hangout sometimes?”

He remembered. He had been shocked, at first, because the Pack was not exactly in friendly terms with Theo at the time, or even today. They were on no terms, really. After the battle against Monroe and the hunters, all Scott knew about the kid was that he was still in town, somewhere, but that was about it.

Liam had explained that he met again with the chimera during summer school, and fate had it that Theo, who was trying to graduate as quickly as possible, had trouble with History, which was Liam’s favorite subject. Meanwhile, Liam was in there because he had a terrible score after his life was thrown over by supernatural stuff, and he had to make it better if he wanted to stay on the Lacrosse team in senior year. He was particularly failing his Biology class, which happened to be Theo’s specialty. So of course, the teacher paired them together to work.

At first, Liam had said, it had been the worst situation ever. But weeks went by, and the boys actually started to… bare each other’s presence better and better, until the eventually started to hangout outside of school. Scott had been concerned in the beginning, but he wasn’t the type to hold grudges, and Theo had been really helpful during the past hardships the Pack had been through. So he just accepted the new unlikely friendship, and tried his best not to get the Pack too involved. He knew many of his friends were still wary of the chimera and he didn’t want to cause trouble.

“What about Theo, is he in trouble or something?”, the Alpha asked.

“No, no, he’s fine. Actually, I might have… Invited him to come tonight.”, Liam answered in a shameful hush.

“Oh.”, was all Scott managed. It wasn’t a terrible news, but he understood his Beta’s nervousness. The issue wasn’t with him, really, but with how the others would react. “Huh, well, I’m fine with it. I mean… He’s your friend after all.”

“Yeah, I know you don’t hate him like the others.”, Liam mumbled with his head low. He looked sad. Scott had never realized before this moment how much he might actually care about Theo.

“It’s okay lil’ bro. I won’t let them ruin everybody’s night by being mean to him. Tell him he can come whenever.”, he finally said in a reassuring tone. He smelled his Beta’s relief sweep through the room.

“Thanks, Scott.”, the teen answered with a small grateful smile. He immediately got his phone out of his pocked and left the room while typing a text, probably to the chimera.

That’s when Scott noticed it. The faint smell of teenage hormones, Liam’s rosy cheeks and his slightly erratic heartbeat… He smiled fondly. Liam never failed to surprise him.

***

_POV Stiles_

When he’d seen Liam take Scott inside to talk to him, his chronic curiosity immediately told him he should ask his best friend what was going on. However, he was swept away to the makeshift dancefloor by an eager Lexie before he could even see Scott get out of the house again. The brunette probably had a few rounds of shot with Lachlann already, looking at how frantically she was moving her whole body to the mainstream electro music playing. Malia and Lydia joined her, laughing and pulling ridiculous yet sexy dance moves.

It’s not that Stiles didn’t like to dance, but he felt terribly out of place next to the three goddesses (two of whom were actually his exes, who would have thought?) moving in rhythm. Also, he was painfully aware of how much of a bad dancer he was, and although drinking helped with his courage, it only made the uncontrollably dangerous flailing of his upper limbs worse.

Looking for an escape, he spotted Lachlann sitting by himself by one of the tables, looking vaguely into the distance. Heart suddenly pounding nervously, he approached him. He had spent almost the whole afternoon with him without feeling like his heart was going to burst out of his ribcage, but it was a different context this time. They were not training in magic, planning a party or having a supernatural related meeting with the Pack, they were just… themselves. Having fun. Being vulnerable.

“Hey, you okay?”, he asked while sitting down next to him.

“Oh hey”, the redhead answered with a jump.

“Sorry, didn’t want to scare you. I thought you had special witch’s senses.”, Stiles teased.

“I was just a little spaced out. Drinking doesn’t help”, he chuckled while showing the half empty cup of punch he was holding in his hand.

“Are you drunk already?”, Stiles laughed. He knew the tall witch could _drink_ , so it was unlikely.

“Not even close. You’ll be rolling on the ground before I even start to stutter, Greenie”, Lachlann said with a sly grin on his face, looking at Stiles in defiance.

The brown-haired man laughed, and held his gaze, even though it made his heart leap like he was watching a horror movie full of jumpscares.

“No way I’m getting hammered like the other night.”, he finally managed. “I think my body couldn’t take it anyways.”, he said in defeat, hoping this would convince Lachlann not to try (and probably succeed) at rendering him so drunk he couldn’t walk before midnight.

“Oh really?” was Lachlann’s only comment. Stiles didn’t like this tone, it reminded him too much of Lexie’s. But he liked a challenge, and he liked Lachlann. He grinned back to the beautiful man next to him, ready to take whatever he was offering. _These twins are gonna be the death of me._

***

The boys had been chatting and drinking for a while, getting tipsier and sloppier by the minute. The rest of the pack was dancing, eating and drinking joyfully in front of them, enjoying the party.

Suddenly, Stiles noticed something that made his blood boil in his veins. Somebody new had arrived from the side of the house, he recognized him immediately and got up on his feet in an instant, walking straight (though a bit sloppily) to the intruder.

“What is this asshole doing here?”, he shouted in the direction of Theo, who looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Liam was by his side in an instant, Scott with him. Stiles was confused.

“Chill out, dude. Liam invited him and I let him come. It’s okay”, the Alpha said.

“What? Liam? I thought you hated him.”, the brown-haired man exclaimed to the young blonde.

Liam shrugged but didn’t say anything. Theo’s expression became hard and defensive, but he only muttered:

“This was a mistake, I’m leaving.”

He went to turn back, but the Beta grabbed his arms to stop him, and the two exchanged a look Stiles couldn’t decrypt. Super weird.

“He’s not Pack. Actually he tried to kill us all, have you all forgotten? He can’t be here!”, Stiles tried again.

“Listen bro, we all know what he did in the past, but Theo’s an ally now. And if Liam thinks it’s okay to invite him here today, then I trust him. You don’t have to be friendly, just… Don’t ruin this party for everybody else, okay?”, Scott said in his firm Alpha tone.

Stiles couldn’t argue with that. He knew he was the one with the most hatred left for the chimera at this point, but he couldn’t help it. Even Malia had stopped being as mad at Theo when she met him at the community college, as he was studying on the same campus as her. Even Mason had accepted his best friend’s choice to make friend with their ex-enemy. Defeated, Stiles strolled away to the back of the garden, grabbing a chair on his way, fuming with anger.

He was sitting there for a few minutes, facing the dark woods surrounding the property, leg twitching and fiddling with a beer cap while mumbling under his breath about how stupid his friends could be, when somebody set a chair next to his and sat on it. It was Lachlann, of course.

“So… What was that about?”, the redhead asked after a few seconds.

“It’s just… Theo. He betrayed us all a few years ago, almost managed to destroy our pack. To be fair, he was being manipulated since he was 9 years old by some evil scientists who created supernatural creatures. Chimeras. The guy’s a wolf-coyote mix.”, Stiles summarized.

“Oh, it explains the weird vibes I’m getting from him. Corey’s a chimera, too, right?”, Lachlann asked.

“Yep. Don’t know exactly what he is himself though. Probably part chameleon. All we know is that he can camouflage into his environment. He’s the invisible man, if you will.”

“Wow, that’s crazy.”, the witch commented. “Now tell me, why do you still hate that Theo so much? From what I gathered, he paid for all the wrongs he did to all of you.”, he stated in a wise tone, which only made Stiles angrier at himself for not getting over it all.

“I don’t know. He’s evil.”, he answered, fully aware of how childish he sounded.

“Evilly handsome for sure,” he heard Lachlann answer quietly while turning around to look at the young man again.

“Wh-? Come on, you too?”, he shouted, feeling betrayed. Lachlann laughed and shot him a glare that told him he made the comment on purpose. Stiles’ cheek burned red hot and he pouted.

“Hey, I get it. I used to hold grudges too. And be angry, a lot.”, the redhead said in a profound voice. He looked somber, deep into his memories. Stiles had never seen this look on his face.

“You don’t look like it. You’re all… Calm and full of old man wisdom. And probably a genius too.”, Stiles retorted.

Lachlann chuckled, and he might have even blushed, but Stiles couldn’t be certain given the dimness in which they were immersed.

“I am all of those things – and more. Now.”, he said enigmatically.

Stiles wished he’d explained more, but he didn’t. They sat in silence for a few minutes more, until the witch talked again:

“We should go back, we’re missing all the fun.”

He was right, and Stiles didn’t actually want to ruin the last night of fun the pack was allowed before things start to go South. He sighed.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

***

After the boys went back to the heart of the party, Lexie convinced everybody to have a beer-pong tournament, and soon enough, a table was cleared and set up for the game. Two teams were created, but not without many debates and friendly arguing. In the end, Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Malia and Lachlann formed one team, and Liam, Theo, Mason, Corey and Lexie formed the other one. Everybody agreed it was the most balanced they could be, but as the game started, it became obvious that the precision Scott and Malia combined was a bit too much for the other team to stand a chance.

At some point, a mildly drunk Stiles had to face Theo and accidentally managed to throw the ball at full force into his crotch. Given his supernatural abilities, the chimera’s private parts were thankfully not damaged, but his pride was another story, and Liam had to hold him back as he was threatening to “claw the bastard’s face off”, meanwhile the human was laughing hysterically the whole time. It was obvious Theo was only making empty threats because he was a little tipsy and caught up in the game anyways, and the two men shook their hands laughing after their round, to Stiles’ as well as everybody else’s surprise. (It was only a matter of time until Stiles started to dislike the young man again, though. It was just a party truce, he thought to himself.)

Anyways, the Puppy Pack team (a name Stiles had obviously chosen) didn’t give up until the end and managed to almost tie the score when a ping-pong ball thrown by Lexie magically became two and bounced inside two separate cups at the same time. The Alpha Pack team tried to argue the validity of the move, but the witch rightfully retorted that if were-creatures were allowed to use their abilities, then witches could too. The game ended with Lachlann’s last shot landing gracefully into the last cup at the other end of the table, and the winners and losers alike drunk a round of shots to celebrate.

Despite being part of the winning team, Stiles had more than one beer during the tournament, and started to feel the effect of the alcohol in his system becoming a little too overwhelming. Staggering to the table filled with food and drinks, he took the very responsible decision to sit down to drink some water and eat some food. He was joined by Scott soon after and they went on chatting about nothing and everything for a while.

After about an hour or two, the drunk fog in Stiles’ mind had mostly lifted up and he was left feeling just a bit tipsy, which was good enough. Scott left his side to go tend for his girlfriend who was apparently puking in a bush on the side of the house, and would probably need help to go to bed. Now that he was alone, he looked around the place to find somebody else to hang out with. Lydia and Lexie were sitting on the floor with a bottle of wine, whispering (gossips) to each other and laughing. Stiles didn’t think it was a good idea to intrude. Liam and Theo were nowhere to be seen, but he noticed Mason and Corey were sitting at the back of the garden with Lachlann, where him and the witch had left their chairs earlier.

As he walked towards them, he realized Lachlann had what looked like a cigarette in his hand, but he didn’t know the twin to smoke so he found it weird. However, when he reached the group and smelled the air, he quickly understood what was going on. He watched in confusion as the redhead passed the lit stick to Mason.

“Are you guys smoking weed?”, he asked, astonished.

Three heads turned to look at him, stopping in their movement. Finally, Mason inhaled slowly from the joint.

“Yeah, why? Are you the Police?”, he asked, chuckling at his own joke.

“Ah. ah. That’s hilarious”, he feigned laughter before sitting on the floor with them.

“Seriously though, I didn’t know you guys smoked.”, he said to the group.

“I don’t.”, Corey answered immediately.

“I don’t really drink, so…”, Mason said next, taking another long drag before passing the joint back to Lachlann while coughing quietly.

“Are you gonna tell on us to your daddy, mister FBI trainee?”, Lachlann teased. He was lying lazily on the damp grass with his back against the plastic chair. His eyes were red and his moves sloppy. He started to laugh at his own remark, like Mason before. They were definitely high.

“It’s almost legal anyways, why should I care?”, Stiles answered coolly.

After taking another drag, the witch passed the lit joint to him, looking at him straight in the eyes. Stiles averted his penetrating gaze and looked at the seething stick instead. He’d never smoke before, or tried any drugs beside alcohol. Not that he refused to, but the occasion never presented itself and he’d never actively sought it either. He hesitated and finally took it.

“Huh, I never smoked anything in my whole life…”, he mumbled sheepishly.

The redhead chuckled again before saying:

“It’s not rocket science, Greenie. Just suck on it and try to take in as much as you can without choking.”, he laughed.

Stiles could have sworn the man had winked while telling him _this_ , but he wasn’t sure. Anyways, he was blushing profusely thinking about the double-meaning of the sentence associated with Lachlann. Eager to think about anything else, he did as told, and - obviously – choked immediately on the acre smoke filling his throat. The taste wasn’t great, way worse than the smell for sure. It took him a few seconds to stop hacking uncontrollably. Lachlann offered him a bottle of water he gladly drank from.

“You’ll need to smoke a little more if you want to feel it.”, he told him.

“I know. Give me a sec, ok?”, Stiles said with a raspy voice and teary eyes that made the group laugh around him.

They spent another hour together, smoking in turns, telling stories and laughing. Stiles could feel his whole body getting more and more sluggish by the minute, while his brain felt like it was floating on cotton balls. Smoking became easier after the second or third try, and he was surprised to actually enjoy being high quite a lot. It was definitely more chill than the effect of alcohol, and he didn’t mind the way his usually crazy fast thoughts were mixing up slowly in his brain.

At some point, Mason and Corey realized it was getting late (or early, depending on the perspective) and the party had pretty much died out. Tired, they went inside the dark mansion to try and find a bed or a sofa to sleep on.

Lachlann and Stiles were the only people left outside, it seemed. They didn’t talk, but it was one of these comfortable silences where each is deep in their own thoughts. The air around them was crisp and still, and the moon offered just enough light to discern the vague shapes of the trees against the deep blue night sky. The last joint had been dead in the witch’s empty bottle for a while now. After a few minutes, Stiles realized Lachlann was shivering next to him.

“You cold?”, he asked quietly.

“Mh,” was all the man answered.

Then Stiles remembered something helpful. He exclaimed:

“Oh, I got you sweater in my car! Almost forgot about it. I’ll go get it.”

His numb body struggled a bit to get him back on his feet, but he managed. He heard Lachlann say “You don’t have to” as he was walking back towards the house but ignored it, determined to do something nice and sweet for him. Stiles chose to go around the house rather than inside in case anybody was sleeping downstairs.

When he turned around the corner of the mansion and started moving towards his car, he noticed the porch light was on and took a quick glance. He could slightly discern two people standing near the wall next to the door, and he stopped in his track to get a better look. In his high state, he couldn’t tell who it was, but it seemed one was slightly shorter than the other. After longer than he would admit, he finally recognized Theo and Liam, and realized they were arguing. They might have been fighting, even, given they’re agitation.

Under normal circumstances, that is if he had been sober, Stiles would have tried to intervene or maybe alert somebody that Theo was trying to kill somebody from their pack _again_ , but not this time. One, because Liam was a big boy who could take care of himself, as well of a werewolf. And two, Stiles knew better but to think he’d stand any chance in the middle of a fight between an evil chimera and a werewolf teen with IED throwing clawed punch at each other - even if he had been sober.

Thus, he started walking again before the boys could notice his presence, and went to his Jeep to retrieve Lachlann’s sweater. It seemed Liam and Theo were too drunk for their super senses to be tuned in to their environment anyways, because even the noise Stiles made while searching for the piece of clothing all around his jeep wasn’t enough to distract them. When the human finally found the dark green hoodie on one of the back seats, he locked the Jeep and started to walk back towards the back garden.

Sparing another look to the front door, he realized the two young men were done fighting, as he could clearly see Theo pressing Liam against the porch wall while their legs intertwined under them. He stopped again, but from shock, this time. He could barely believe what he was witnessing, but no doubt was possible: the boys were brutally making out, unaware of Stiles’ presence in the vicinity. The brown-haired man decided he’d seen enough when Liam slipped one hand in Theo’s pants from behind while the other was going up under his shirt. Still astonished, he almost ran back to where Lachlann was still sitting.

“You’ll never believe what I just saw!”, he told the redhead, panting a little.

“Did Liam and Theo finally realize they wanted to bone each other?”, the witch answered immediately.

“What the f-… How did you-?”, Stiles started, taken aback.

“I’ve noticed as soon as Theo arrived.”, Lachlann interrupted. “Before you ask: yes, it’s a witch thing, but it’s mostly that anybody with eyes would notice what’s going on between those two. Plus Lexie likes to gossip.”, he concluded in the teasing tone Stiles was getting more and more used to.

“I didn’t notice.”, the human answered, a little offended.

“Sorry, but you don’t notice a lot of things.”, Lachlann said with a smirk.

Stiles thought he was referring to the fact he didn’t realize he had magical abilities for so long, but he felt like there was something else. However, knowing the tall man a little better now, he was sure he wouldn’t reveal anything if he just asked, so he didn’t even try. Instead, he gave him his hoodie and sat back down by his side (maybe a little closer than before).

Still racking his mind on the enigma, though, he suddenly had an idea. Lachlann seemed to like games and challenges, so maybe he could learn a few things with a bargain. There was one mystery in particular Stiles as not ready to give up on.

“If I tell you what my real name is, will you tell me about your specialty?”, he asked all of a sudden, breaking the contemplative silence.

He heard the witch next to him chuckle quietly.

“You never give up, don’t you?”, he answered, giving him the side eye.

Stiles plastered a fake-innocent smile on his face and nodded to say “no”.

“Er, fine. I should tell you though, I could have found out your name on my own. I’m only accepting the deal because I like you.”, he said, grinning.

Obviously, Stiles became redder than a lobster while a swarm of butterflies ravaged his stomach hearing these words. _Keep it together, he only means it as a friend._ He cleared his throat to talk.

“Mieczyslaw. That’s my real name. Mouthful, right? Even I couldn’t say it properly when I was little, so I chose to go by Stiles.”, he explained.

“Sounds like the name of some salad.”, was all Lachlann commented.

“You asshole! First of all, the salad is called coleslaw, and second of all… You’re right, it’s terrible.”, he laughed, the witch following him. “Okay, now your turn.”, he finally said.

“Right.”, Lachlann started, hesitant.

His expression had suddenly switched from laughter to something more… solemn. Stiles felt like he’d pushed too far, maybe he really didn’t want to talk about it for some reason. He was going to say something when Lachlann spoke again:

“It’s okay, you would have known sooner or later anyways. It’s just… The way I discovered my specialty, it’s kinda sad.”

There was a pause, during which Stiles cursed himself internally a thousand times for stirring up bad memories inside the beautiful redhead’s mind. But he looked determined to tell his story, so the brown-haired man just listened.

“You see, when my dad died, I just… lost it. I was only 10, and yet, I had so much anger inside me. I resented the entire world for his death, even my mom.”

Stiles remembered their talk from earlier, when he’d said he used to hold grudges and be angry, too, and he guessed he was referring to that time.

“I became undisciplined, disobedient. I would pick fights, do stuff that was forbidden, talk like crap to my mom… I really made the whole situation ten times worst for my family at the time, but I just couldn’t help it, you know? It was like I had this boiling rage inside of me, like all my emotions - my sorrow and grief – would only express themselves in the form of anger. Which, by the way, is pretty common and not that bad. Except maybe when you’re a witch, that is.

“One day, my sister and I had this huge argument about me being a shithead and making mom feel even more terrible, and I just… Snapped. I conjured a fireball out of thin hair and almost hit Lexie with it. If it hadn’t been for my mom stepping in at that exact moment…”, he trailed off, his eyes lost into the darkness around them.

Stiles could read profound remorse on his face, like he’d never gotten over the fact that he almost badly injured his sister – or maybe worse. He was at a loss for words, but Lachlann knew it, and he resumed:

“Surprisingly, things got better after the incident. I felt so terrible about what I’d done, I immediately stopped being a pain in the ass.”, he chuckled. “And Lexie’s the kindest person I know, so of course she’s forgiven me since. But more importantly, I had discovered the type of magic I was naturally the best at that day.”, he paused. “Battle magic.”

“Wow”, Stiles couldn’t help bursting out, his excitement barely concealed. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I have absolutely no tact and it really was a sad story but…”

“Ahah, it’s okay, don’t worry. Battle magic sounds pretty cool, huh? My mom said I was the first kid she knew of who did it without training at such a young age. She was pissed, obviously, but like… Proud at the same time.”, he said with a nostalgic smile.

“Awesome.”, Stiles said in awe. “Can you show me? Please?”, he couldn’t help asking.

“Nah, it’s not anything to be messed with without a clear mind, and I’m still pretty high right now.”, Lachlann laughed. “Actually, I’d say I’m just high enough to go to bed and have the best sleep ever.”

On these wise words – with which Stiles eagerly agreed, starting to be very tired himself -, both men went back to the mansion, gladly basking in its warmth after spending hours on the cold and wet ground. Very simple calculations told them they was probably no room available given everybody had gone to bed hours ago, so they agreed on sharing the big living room’s L-shaped sofa. The witch shifted into his cat form without even saying goodnight and curled himself into a ball on one side of it, soon followed by Stiles who laid himself on the other side with a soft blanket he found nearby.

He tucked it tightly around his body, and his last thought before he drifted to sleep was the image of Lachlann glowing under the fairy lights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter! 
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing it for obvious reasons, but getting back to more serious stuff after that is kinda hard. If you like this story and want to see it finished one day, please leave a kudo or a comment! 
> 
> Thanks and see you later :)


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